6/26 - Fly Lima to Home

6 hour flight back from Lima to Miami, then 2-hour drive back to Naples. Our own bed after staying in 6 hotels in 11 days!

6/25 - Back to Lima

We had a half day free, then fly back from Cusco to Lima.

Peruvian Food

Our travel guide sent us a DVD about Peruvian food. They say it is unique, and could become a global item...like Italian or Japanese or Chinese have done.

I ate alpaco tenderloin one evening. It was very good. It tasted different from anything. It was like a regular steak, but had a different texture and different flavor. Hard to put my figure on how to characterize it. I will say that it definitely was the best alpaco that I ever ate.

Our other favorite was ceviche. This is cubes of seafood not cooked, but marinated in some sort of acid-based liquid...lemon/lime/orange marinade. This was light and refreshing everywhere we tried it.

Inti Raymi Photos 3

1) The Inca removes a llama heart as a sacrifice. (They say this was faked.)

2) Dave and Kathleen.

3) Rick and Phyllis near the characters.

Inti Raymi Photos 2

Inti Raymi Photos 1

6/24 - Inti Raymi Festival

Inti Raymi is a celebration of the winter soltice. The significance is that from here onward the sun will visit the earth longer each day. The Incas used this as a celebration that also enabled them to have the tribes from the 4-corners to report into the Inca on their status.

The Inti Raym celebration has three parts, all in different locations. The 3rd part is at Scsayhuaman. We paid to have reserved bleacher seat and a guide. Our guide, Valentin, was able to get us a great spot for observing the start of the party representing the Sun. This was on the grounds of the temple of the Sun (Korikancha). Here they began the greeting of the sun with music and dancing.

You could just attend the 3rd part and get the total experience. The 3rd part took about 2 hours. There is lots of dancing, music and costumes.