Packing and planning

Ray and I are leaving for vacation on Saturday. We've finalized most of our trip, which is a big relief (for me). Here's a brief itinerary of what we have so far:

July 26 Fly to Chicago (My kind of town...)

July 27 CUBS game at Wrigley Field


July 28 Fly to Toronto to fly down to Lima (ridiculous, but hey it's free)

July 29 Explore Lima. We're tentatively staying at Casa de Baraybar , a "Bed & Breakfast" one block from the Pacific Ocean.

July 30 Fly to Cusco. We'll be staying at the Hostal Balcon, which was originally built in 1630 as a house for a Portuguese merchant and overlooks the city. I'm excited about seeing Cusco and have heard only great things from people who have already travelled there. It was established as the capital of the Inca Empire prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.

August 3 Train to Aguas Calientes, the pueblo near Machu Picchu. We're staying at Hotel Inti Orquideas for one night. By staying closer to the ruins, we can watch the sunset and be there for the sunrise the next day. More importantly, we miss all those horrendous tour groups.

August 4 Spend one more night in Cusco at El Balcon - our flight to the northern beaches leaves the next day

August 5 Fly from Lima to Piura, on the northern coast near the Peru-Ecuador border. Then we taxi to Mancora. We reserved a bungalow at Soleil Bungalows on the remote end of the beach. We will be here until August 10.

August 10 Fly back to Lima. We'll stay one night at Hostal El Patio .

August 12 Back in Austin! (Hopefully)