More adventure than we bargained for.......

We were supposed to take the train to Machu Picchu today, but as we know “when men make plans, God laughs”.  He must have had a good giggle with this one....

Peru shut down completely - to try to stay ahead of COVID-19:  They only have about 100 cases, and are trying to keep it that way.  They gave 28 hours notice before shutting the border to all ground, water and air transportation in and more importantly OUT of the country.

So instead of going to Machu Picchu, we went back to Cusco- to the very pretty hacienda style Marriott, right in the center of town.  

It would have been a wonderful place, if we had not felt so uncertain about what was happening.  This little guy really wanted to come inside our room......

We had a nice lunch at the hotel (this is the desert table). The food here is really good!

Once it looked like we were going to stay there for a while (possibly up to 2 weeks), I thought I may as well go for a walk around town, since by tomorrow, we would be confined to the hotel.  

Cusco is a very pretty town, surrounded by mountains, where the terracing done by the Incas is still very visible and in some instances, in use.

The Spanish style center of town, with it’s big cathedral and it’s typical balconied houses is built directly on the ruins of the Inca town, and a lot of the old Inca walls are clearly visible- note the mortar-less construction and the slightly tilted walls.

A lot of the side streets are too narrow for cars, and still show the cobble stones, and the center waste water channels.  

I could not get inside any of the museum, churches, etc, but it is just pleasant to walk around.  All the little stores around the plaza were closed.  I feel really bad for the people of Cusco, who are so dependent on the tourism industry.  Here are a few more pictures.

Back in the hotel, a few local women were selling alpaca shawls and blankets.  I bought a shawl - in part because it was pretty, but mostly because they won’t be able to come tomorrow and I wanted to help a little bit.  Another women had brought her baby alpaca, which is possibly the cutest creature ever!  He kept snuggling with me and making these endearing little sounds.  I want one!

In the lower level of the hotel, there is even a small Inca ruin section that has been excavated.

Just as we were getting comfortable with the idea of spending a week or two here (the hotel is really pretty), we were told that our travel agency had succeeded in getting us a flight to Lima.  It’s important to get back to Lima, because it’s the only international airport in the country, so when things open up a bit, we need to be right there.

So we packed up quickly and went to the airport!  The airport had by then been shut down, and we were escorted by the police.  Here is what the terminal looked like when I got in.....  it was eerie. We are travelling with a nice bunch of people, and, since we obviously could not take a Dartmouth picture in Machu Picchu, we took one with its picture in the terminal (see top of blog)` We arrived in Lima around 11:30 pm.  By the time we got the luggage and then transferred to the hotel, it was almost 2 am...... I was VERY tired.  On the drive to the hotel, every intersection had policemen and armed forces, stopping people and telling them either to get home, or asking where they were going and why.  It was weird.  But, the hotel (a brand new Westin) is very nice, the bed is extremely comfortable, and it has a decadent bathroom.  We will be on lockdown starting tomorrow, but at least, in a nice place.......