Category: Uncategorized

Last night we went out to dinner and had alpaca. It tasted like steak.

In the morning we went on a 3 hour walking tour of Cusco.  Our guide, Elvis in the white hat below, took us around to see some historical buildings and churches. We learned alot about ancient Incan history and visited the San Pedro market which was cool and tasted some exotic fruits.

We are still breathing hard going up steep hills which has us concerned.  We drink coca tea and you’re also supposed to chew coca leaves to help with the altitude’s effects.  Elvis told us that Peruvians are small but have big lungs to handle the lack of oxygen.

We went to check in at our tour group and we asked to see the ages of the people in our group. Almost all were in there 20’s (ugh) with a 53 year old couple and someone around 40. We were hoping for a group of 60 year olds with bad knees, oh well.  I guess we are the patriach/matriarch of this group.  Maybe we’ll  get special privileges like a free alpaca ride!

Had lunch overlooking the plaza at a traditional Peruvian restaurant.  They had alpaca skewers (how do you say no when they have alpaca on the menu! ).  We also had cicha morada, which is a local drink made with blue corn, pineapple and lime.   It tasted like cranberry juice to me.

We arrived late on Monday and stayed at the Wyndham Hotel a block from the airport. Luckily, planes stop coming in around 11 pm, otherwise it would have been like trying to sleep on the runway.  The next morning we flew into Cusco to experience what 11000 ft feels like.  We get winded fast climbing up the steep narrow streets of Cusco and we feel a little compression on our heads but that’s all for now.

We ran some errands in the afternoon (Sim card, bank, etc).  We stopped by a bakery called El Buen Pastor where the profits provide a home for 50 neglected young girls.  In addition to shelter they also provide them with an education and skills training, etc.   I’m sure we’ll be back.

We are staying at a cool little hotel called Hotel Terra Viva San Blas. Everyone here is extremely nice. We should have a nice couple of days here as we get acclimated to the altitude. They have a beautiful garden, we just hope it’s warm enough to sit outside.

Traffic here is insane.  Most sidewalks can only fit one person.  The only thing between us  and the cars’ sideview mirrors seem to be about 8 inches.  Love those small narrow streets though. So much fun to walk even if it’s difficult breathing.

Toughest part so far is having to abstain from alcohol to avoid getting altitude sickness. There’s a big glass of wine waiting for us when this is all over!

We are on our way to our latest adventure, the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Leaving from Cusco we’ll hike for 5 days through the Andes to get to the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu.  The biggest challenge is the altitude and elevation.  The trail begins at an elevation of 9000 ft, drops to 8366 ft  and peaks at 13750 ft ominously known as “Dead Woman’s Pass”.  Tom and I believe we’re ready for the challenge.

We’ve trained by hiking Mount Tammany at the Delaware Water Gap several times along with our usual hikes in the South Mountain and Watchung Reservations.  We also visited our doctor and have medication to help with the potential altitude sickness.  We’ll update the blog as we can along the way.  Wish us well!

Today we visited the massive War Museum that is located a few blocks from where we were staying.  There were many exhibits that showed their appreciation to all the countries that helped them during the Korean War.  Additionally, it showed all the politics that caused this war to happen in the first place.  Very sad.

After this we went back down to Itaewan district for an early dinner before the crowds showed up.

Tomorrow’s our last day.  We don’t have much planned. We are going to the Myeongdong district to look around and then we will meet up with John, Sun Young and Alex for some local Korean BBQ.

 

 

Today we visited the main palace (Geongbokgung) of the Joseon Dynasty.  This palace was bigger than the other palaces we visited and had some impressive views as well.

There was a group of small statues near the folk museum where you could find what animal is associated with the year that you were born in the Chinese Zodiac calendar.  Beth and Matt were the “year of the pig”.  I was the “year of the monkey”!  Maybe that’s why I like bananas so much.

After that we explored more back alleys in the Insadong district.  It’s amazing how many restaurant/tea houses are tucked away down these tiny alleyways in Seoul.

At night, we visited the North Seoul tower which gave us impressive views of Seoul at night.  After that we went back to Itaewon district behind the Hamilton hotel to get a burger.  The amount of watering holes in that area was amazing.

 

On Monday, Matt had an afternoon visit with a HOLT counselor (Esther) in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, we did  USO tour of the DMZ & JSA (Joint Security Area).  First stop was the refurbished (last stop in South Korea) Dorasan train station.  The tracks continue into North Korea but no trains travel there anymore.  They used to have some freight trains travel into North Korea but that stopped in 2008.

Next stop was the observatory where you can see North Korea beyond the demarcation line (DMZ). North Korea plays propaganda on their speakers and South Korea plays music (as can be heard on the video below).

IMG_2566

South Korea found 4 tunnels that were dug by the North Koreans.  We were able to enter one of them (no pictures allowed) and go up to the North Korean border underground where the tunnel has been plugged up.  There are supposedly many more tunnels that they have not found.  

Lastly we went to the JSA and Freedom House where we crossed over into North Korea in one of the blue houses.  The demarcation line is the speaker phones on the conference table desk in the picture below.

In the distance, you can see a North Korean soldier standing on the steps off to the left.  There are usually two soldiers standing guard there.  They call them “Bob and Steve”.

 

 

 

Today we met our guide (Lee) who gave us a tour of Unhyeongung Palace and Bukchon Hanok village (traditional Korean homes built in 1930’s).  It was fun exploring the back alleys.

For lunch we had Korean Ginseng Soup which is a small chicken cooked with rice inside a stone pot of soup. I need to work on my chop stick skills.

At night, we made our way down to John and Sun Young’s apartment. Alex and Brian were also there as well as two dogs they have which they adopted which were brothers.  They call them “Tom and Jerry”!

 

Sun Young made us a wonderful meal where we got to taste some more Korean food that we haven’t had yet.  It was a great visit with a lot of laughs.

On Friday night, we had dinner at a small South African place down one of the many back streets of Seoul in the more westernized Itaewon district.

On the way back, we walked past the Korean War Memorial.  We have been fortunate that the weather is around 30- 40 degrees so far, so walking around the city has been enjoyable.

On Saturday, we strolled along the “river walk” in the center of Seoul and had lunch at one of the street vendors in the Gwangjang market.

After lunch, Matt met up with his cousin Brian Donnelly as Tom and I met with our  guide who gave us a tour of the Naksan “City Wall”.  We were pretty tired at that point but the guide (Mr Ho Park) was very informative.  We saw and learned a lot from him on that short 2 hour tour.

 

 

Tom, Beth and Matt traveled from JFK airport in NY to Incheon Airport in Seoul on Wednesday/Thursday (we lost a day in the process).  The flight was 13.5 hours on the largest plane any of us have traveled on.  It was an airbus with 2 levels and 10 seats across and a pretty comfortable flight.

We’re staying in an apartment in a high rise building we booked through Airbnb.  Our host is a lovely woman who has been really helpful and even met us at the bus stop to walk us to the apartment.

We planned a light day for our first full day in Seoul, didn’t want to over do it because of our jet lag, and went to the Changdeokgung Palace and Secret Garden.  The palace and gardens date back to the 14th century and were built by the Joseon Dynasty which was the last royal dynasty in Korea.

The Secret Gardens are also known as the Forbidden Gardens as only the royal family and their guests are permitted entrance.  Even today you can not tour the gardens without a guide.  We had a beautiful day with the temperatures in the low to mid 40’s.  It was clear that in the warmer months the gardens would be amazing but it’s a little dreary in the winter.  The pond below is said to be in the shape of the Korean peninsula.

We had lunch near the palace and had bibimbap, a mixed rice dish and seafood pancakes.  The we’re both delicious but the bibimbap was very spicy!

 

We arrived in Santiago too late yesterday to attend the special Pilgrim’s mass so we went today.  We arrived early to get good seats as the church fills up fast.  The highlight was the swinging of the giant incense burner called the Botafumeiro. It’s ironic that it’s so popular with pilgrims because it was originally used to fumigate the sweaty and possibly disease ridden pilgrims.

To wrap up our final post we’d like to thank everyone who provided the help, support, prayers and encouragement that made our journey not only possible but successful. We really loved sharing this with all of you.  Your comments and questions were eagerly anticipated and much appreciated.

Mucha gracias!

Beth & Tom