Peru: Day 10

10/26/2019

3:30 am! The room started buzzing with alarms and lights were flicked on. Yay. We were out of the room by about 3:45 am. We walked across the indoor bridge directly into the airport from our hotel. We didn’t have any bags to check, so we walked straight to security. We passed with flying colors because we’re experts by now. So secure. We made our way to breakfast. We all opted to get to this breakfast that included eggs, waffle, juice, coffee, and a bread basket. It was way too much for most of us, but it was amazing to eat good bread. They even included a croissant that was fantastic!

After we ate, we hung out at the gate a short while until we were able to board the plane. This went fairly smoothly, and we only took off about 20 minutes late again. Peru time, I guess. We touched land again in Panama. It was incredibly hot though luckily this time we didn’t have to sprint across the airport. We even had enough time to get lunch! We went to Margaritaville because Mandy and Jenny were dead set on nachos. Shaun and I got margaritas because when in Rome… After lunch, we made our way to the gate to await boarding. We were greeted with a surprise security checkpoint. No one really understood why, other than the USA was forcing it on Panama, according to what one employee told Mandy. We had to do shoes and belts, empty our bags, the whole nine. Mandy and Jenny were forced to throw away or chug the waters they’d just purchased inside the airport, so that was a waste of money. The employees seemed to hate it just as much as all the passengers, too. So it was overall an enjoyable experience. We got through just in time to begin boarding with our group. Our plane backed away from the gate at takeoff time and we got in line behind about 8 other crafts for takeoff. Our 12:33 pm flight took off at 12:51 pm. Pretty good, compared to the rest of the flights. We laughed at the fact that we hadn't had one problem-free flight on the entire trip. The rest of this final leg was uneventful, thankfully. We actually arrived early to Boston by about 10 minutes! We breezed through customs and out to ground transport since none of us checked any bags. We were on the road with our Uber within minutes. We got a ride to Revere, where Shaun and Jenny's vehicle had been parked. They gave us a ride home and by 8:30 pm we were back in Ipswich.

We don't have many pictures from this day as it was mostly planes, so enjoy these random photos from throughout our trip!

We prefer to travel with carry-on bags only. This can be achieved by packing light and utilizing compression sacks for clothing.

The streets of Cusco at night.

Somewhere along the Hidroelectrica-Aguas Calientes rail line.

This dog was very excited to meet us. We invited him in a for a granola bar snack.

Chicharron de cerdo with sweet potato chips...and raw onion salad.

Cow dog hiked along the tracks with us for quite awhile. Jenny kept him from walking on the tracks and Shaun protected him from an aggressive German Shepherd. Have to look out for the little guys out there!

A local woman saw us eyeing this flower and she went and picked it for us as a gift.

One of our hikes with Yerson from Eco Hacienda Roman. Accompanied by the pups of course.

Delicious mocha cafe at the airport in Lima.

Climbing the many steps to get to the town center of Santa Teresa.

On our way into Cusco.

Here is Jenny, in the wild, with a fresh lemon.

Here Mandy is breaking two travel clinic rules at once! Travel clinic rule #4 - no swimming unless it is in the ocean or in a chlorinated pool and travel clinic rule #5 - don't pet the dogs.

Travel clinic rule #4 - No swimming ubless it is in the ocean or in a chlorinated pool.

Coffee bean from the farm at Eco Hacienda Roman.

Don't fall in, Jenny!

We highly recommend staying here!

Yogi could always be found sleeping right outside our room.

We frequently enjoyed coca tea in the courtyard at Kurumi Hostel in Cusco. Coca really does wonders for symptoms of altitude sickness!

This guy made himself comfortable near our table at lunch.

Took the midnight train going anywhere

Lucky for us they took Visa/Mastercard!

Anticucho de pollo

Seen on the ride to Santa Teresa.

Travel buddies!

Alpaca steak for Rob

Dixie was Shaun's favorite pup from the trip

Unstated travel clinic rule that should be self-explanatory - don't put random machetes in your mouth!

Finally made it to Gea Lodge after the long walk with all our belongings from Hidroelectrica! At least some of us were happy to be there...at least for a few hours.