Day 1: Sacred Valley

 It’s 11 short years later and we are back on the road, this time heading to South America for the first time.

We left our apartment cool calm and collected meaning Sylvia had had 3 crises about whether it was a good idea to take altitude medication and Martin's swimsuits had an “attempted delivery” which consisted of UPS calling our phones for one millisecond before deciding to deliver them tomorrow (too late).

We decided to roll our suitcases across the park via “little dog loop” in Central Park where we walk in the mornings, hoping to see some parting shih tzus. We did, and then hopped in an Uber to JFK outside the Met.

In the car, we Face Timed Sylvia’s parents. Her mother got very excited when she heard we were going to the “secret” valley. Except we weren’t-- we are currently in the sacred valley. She says she prefers secret valley, it reminds her of Harrison ford.

The flight NYC to Lima was the easiest flight of our lives, both immediately falling asleep before the acclaimed Emilia Perez could even start.

In Lima, we tried our best to get some walking in by making loops around the very small domestic terminal (attracting notice, Sylvia is very tall in Peru). Sylvia spent a good amount of time subtly stalking a woman to snap a picture of her small dog:

(worth it)

In that very same airport, we found a figurine of “the Willners bringing the passover stuff upstairs!”:

note the pots, silver, etc.

Then Martin passed out during the flight to Cusco and Sylvia read most of “The Bee Sting”, on his new Kindle. He has since lost privileges on his Kindle until she finishes the book, which is highly recommended.

We landed in Cusco and were greeted by really fun altitude headaches and dizziness, but luckily we had the following poster to distract us: 

We then met our driver, Noe, and our guide, Yanet, and then made our way to the Sulca textile museum. 

This was a baffling experience with a guide who spoke Spanish at an appropriate register but for some reason spoke English at the highest pitch we have ever heard. She also crushed a bug in front of us, which was scarring, explaining that they use its blood? Entrails? for red dye. It was more of a shop than a museum, and there was also a very disturbing stuffed dog (the museum’s dog, who they loved).

The highlight of sulca textiles was getting to feed the alpacas and llamas and other varieties of that kind of animal:

Then we got some snacks-- among them coca toffee-- to help with the altitude. We then drove to the Sacred Valley, stopping at several scenic viewpoints along the way. One of them showed us a smaller valley of indigenous farmers here—growing corn and quinoa. We were also shocked to learn that the terraces in the mountains are left over by the Incas, and are still used for farming. Crops are planted depending on altitude. 

The drive to our hotel in the sacred valley was increasingly pleasant as time went on, owing to the decreasing elevation. Then we finally made it to our hotel. At 4pm, it was time to feed the baby alpacas. The two little brown ones (decorated in garlands) have been at the hotel for a while. There were two others-- a darker one and the little white one -- but they are brand-new and not domesticated yet, and wanted nothing to do with us. 

Then it was time for dinner, during which we heard traditional Peruvian instruments playing Abba songs. Not to worry, Sylvia's mother received the full-length version of Chiquitita.