Today was a getting there day – a flight to Cusco. The collection by our taxi from the hotel was easy until quickly everything stopped. There was a road closure without warning, then some 30 minutes later on the coastal highway we quickly arrived to the edge of the airport. Here nothing moved. Eventually someone realised there has to be order on the road and we arrived in time for check in.
The flight to Cusco was terrific. Once we had left the Humboldt fog we saw more of the snow-capped Andes Mountains, the Altiplano and red dust from the quarries. On approach there were clearly strong winds which made the landing interesting. We were almost on the runway when downdrafts made landing impossible. We had to do a ‘go around’. Ten minutes later we were there!
The road transfer to the Sacred Valley involved a climb to 2,700m, a crossing of the Altiplano and a long descent to the Sacred Valley and our hotel in an idyllic setting in the small town of Urubamba.
