URUBAMBA HIGHLIGHTS
I started planning our trip to Peru in June, roughly five months before our planned departure date. It was one of the countries that had recently re-opened to tourism after the world shutdown for over a year due to COVID-19, and which I really wanted to visit. The months leading up to the trip were busy ones. Squeezed in between work and dealing with the minutiae of everyday life were visits to the gym to train for the Inca Trail hike and emails back and forth with Andrea, my contact at Amazonas Explorer, to finalize trip details amidst the changing requirements of the pandemic.
Finally, the day arrived. The last time I had been in an airport was January of 2020, when I returned from a trip to the Middle East just as news of COVD-19 was breaking the airwaves. SFO wasn’t buzzing, but it also wasn’t empty. We were there with many other brave souls, faces covered with all types of masks, who had probably been cooped up long enough and decided that now was as good as any to get out. Once we boarded the plane, I donned my face shield over my two layers of face masks, and settled in for the flight to Los Angeles where we would change planes before continuing on to Lima.
After an uneventful flight, we arrived in Lima, the capital of Peru. Once there, it was another short flight—less than 90 minutes—to Cusco. We had planned a few days in Urubamba, situated in the heart of the Sacred Valley, to acclimate to the altitude and to do some sightseeing before commencing our hike to Machu Picchu.
Our touristic immersion began almost immediately; after leaving the airport, on our way to the hotel, we stopped at a weaving cooperative where women knitted everything from the Peruvian hat with ear flaps (or chullos) and scarves to sweaters, wall hangings and table runners with alpaca hair.
Unfortunately, jet-lag combined with the effects of being at 9,420 feet above sea-level made each minute looking at various textile options seem interminable. In the end, after being shown wall-hanging after wall-hanging, we walked out with a chullo for Chris.
I could not have been happier to arrive at the Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba. The sprawling property, located in the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu, is nestled in the foothills of the Urubamba mountain range. After resting in our well-appointed room, we hung out in the bar, with its big windows framing views of the valley. We dined alone that night in the restaurant, slowly savoring our 3-course meal of potato soup, corn and avocado salad and trout. It was strange having the dining room to ourselves and we missed the bustle. This was perhaps one of the few situations where I would have preferred more, as opposed to less, people around.