*Disclaimer: no humor in this post. (Read on)
Lima to Cusco to Urubamba to Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu.... in 24 hours!
We were picked up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the Lima airport where we were taking a short, one hour plane ride to Cusco where we then had a driver waiting for us who would take us to Ollantaytambo where we would tour the Incan ruins that day, stay the night at a hotel and head to Machu Picchu on the train early the next morning.
Even though it is summer in Lima, the mountains and town of Ollantaytambo did not get that memo and it rained almost the entire time we were here. I have to pause and give a shout out to my mom who forced me to purchase one of those ridiculous ponchos that I swore I would never wear, but guess what? I have now worn it for two days and consider it an essential piece my wardrobe from here on out. If you see me wearing it, I look like a giant beige turtle. That is just not a good look on me, also considering that I wear my backpack underneath the poncho to keep it dry as well. I had Jane take a picture and I was just ridiculous looking.
Fast forward to today and I spent 8 of the most amazing hours of my life hiking around Machu Picchu. I could spend paragraphs upon paragraphs describing what I saw and learned from our amazing tour guide Pamela but it would not do it justice so I will leave you with the suggestion that you absolutely must see this in your life.... and while you can still climb a bazillion stairs! The private tour guide was worth every cent.
Now to the really "unfunny" part of the post...and our day... Jane and I were at 8,000 feet and had just left the Incan sundial. You can imagine the cell phone reception would be nonexistent up on a mountain that had no electricity let alone cell towers. Imagine my surprise when my phone buzzed in my pocket telling me that I had a text message. I pulled my phone out and saw that there was a text from Jane's daughter, Deanna telling us that Jane's dad had a major stroke and Jane needed to get home as soon as possible. And by "get home" I mean California. It would be almost funny if it wasn't so tragic that we were so far from where she needed to be at that very moment. Our tour guide was wonderful and called ahead to get us on a bus back as soon as possible. We will need to take a bus, a train, a taxi, a plane, and a few other flights to get Jane back to Los Angeles to see her dad
The rest of the evening was spent rescheduling our flight back to Lima. We are trying to get Jane down to Los Angeles as soon as possible and because she was the one who is going to set everything up for Bailey and be his homeschool teacher, we are also bringing Bailey back with us. Jane will most likely stay in the United States for several weeks if not longer. I am super sad about Jane's dad who my kids call Grandpa Richard and I am telling myself that Bailey and I both returning to Los Altos days after we left is the way it was meant to be for some reason that we have not discovered yet.
My heart is with my dear friend and her family as I literally experienced the very same thing with my dad 15 years ago.
I am sure there will be more adventures in our future.
I wish all of you happy and peaceful and healthy 2017.
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