Updates on excitement

With less than two weeks to go, the trip to Peru is shaping up. Friday's meeting with the families was to the point - good questions, confidence in the process, and a sense that traveling was drawing near. Last week, EF Tours posted the hotels on our tour and this really helped me clear up some confusion that I had about the itinerary. I will post the hotel links here to give you another place to find the information. But here are my thoughts.

Lima's hotel (really a hostel of sorts) is in a bustling part of town akin, I think, to any stylish and urbane part of DC. We will have a busy, busy day there. Like many Latin American cities, I expect Lima to have that combination of European flair and grinding poverty. From a geographer's perspective, the city's location a bit away from the actual coast intrigues me. I am also looking forward to comparing this once-viceregal capital with Mexico City, also the capital of a Spanish viceroyalty. These were big, important cities whose influence extended far beyond the countries they currently dominate. What is left of that feeling of importance?

Our flight to Cuzco will be a big shift - the altitude in combination with a cultural that is much more Andean. Our hotel in Cuzco will see us twice - the first time coming from Lima, the next time after Machu Picchu. After our day in the old Inca capital, we got to Machu Picchu. What I didn't get from the initial itinerary is that we will overnight at the foot of the hill, in Aguas Calientes. Our third hotel is located in this small, clearly touristic town. We return via train and pass through some more of the Incan heartland on our way to Cuzco. We stay again in the hotel that welcomed us before. Finally, we fly out to Lima and go directly to the return flight home.

The relatively few hotels we are staying in relieves one of the typical trip concerns - the constant shifting in and out of places that marked our excursions to Spain and Costa Rica. Now, to figure out how to have a great time in the layover in Newark, New Jersey. I am not sure that most of the 20 or so travelers going with me will be excited by visiting Philip Roth's home town, but there is still hope.