Lima Supermarkets

Ever wonder what the supermarkets are like in Lima?  Well they are just as clean and large as their North American counterparts.  The three largest supermarket chains that Misterpiggy visited were Plaza Vea, Wong's and Metro (no relation to the same named chain in Canada).  The supermarkets could also be found in some of the smaller cities as well, sometimes right across the street from the big open air markets known as Mercados.

Hiking in Sacred Valley

Alex the tour guide arrived just as Misterpiggy finished enjoying his hotel breakfast buffet.  By 8:30 am, the chartered van sped along the dusty road towards the ollantaytambo town, but turned off the main
road after about 30 mins into the area called Pachar, not far from the Urubamba train station.

misterpiggy trekked for about an hour and a half along a flat trail running parallel to the train
tracks and the urabamba river.  along the way, he saw giant cactus plants, artichoke plants and met dogs of various sizes, chickens, pigs, cows, dragonflies and hummingbirds. misterpiggy learned that horses, pigs and cows had been brought to south america by the spanish conquerors as the only animals present during inca times were llamas and alpacas.

Soon he came upon, Choqana, which held a small fortress ruin, which Alex the guide called a wind
gate. indeed, as you turned the corner, it became very windy.

Looking up, one could see a rock formation that looked like a giant condor perched on the mountain top.

After a quick box lunch provided by Alex, the trail ascended along a ridge on the mountain side and soon misterpiggy could see the valley floor, a ridge of terraces and a wall of mountains.  as he trekked he could make out the town below, the train station and the Inka fortress ruins. looking back along the path, misterpiggy had some very spectacular views.