Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Since our Inca Trail plans changed, we elected to catch up on some much needed rest and have what the Gordons like to call a “make and mend day.” We spent it on the grounds of our hotel, eating, sleeping, reading, walking in the gardens, and playing games. The hotel staff knew that Greg had been under the weather, and there was one particular waiter who was very kind to us at the breakfast and lunch buffets. He treated us like family and was so gracious and sweet.
Greg is improving steadily, and we definitely made the right call. There was no way for him to hit the trail in his current condition. He got out of breath climbing the stairs to our room, so climbing from 9,000 to 13,000 feet would have been completely out of the question.
We spent a good part of the morning in three easy chairs in the sunshine. Speaking of the sun, it is VERY bright and powerful here. One must put on sunscreen every morning before going outside and wear a big boonie hat. I am allergic to chemical sunscreens so I have to wear that awful white block. It makes me look like a greasy ghost.
Since there was not much action today, I will simply give you a quick tour of our hotel. Instead of roughing it on the Inca Trail, we are staying in beauty and luxury while we wait on our tour operator to settle our arrangements. We will be here for at least another day and then we will head back to Cusco and see some more city life before returning to our regular itinerary at Machu Picchu. I was a little sad to unpack our Inca Trail porter bags, but all in all, it was easy to change gears.
The hotel is set on the grounds of an 18th century monastery. I can’t help but think that my newlywed friends Jim and Gary would love it here. The place is charming.
Here’s a photo of our hotel grounds, taken from the vegetable gardens above:
In the middle of the afternoon, we discovered the game room and had some quality family time playing ping pong. I used to be good at that but am not any more. Genene begrudingly accepted some instruction from me. Why are kids like that? She is a terrific student at school and in all her extracurricular activities. All her teachers tell us that she loves to learn and tries very hard and accepts instruction from them willingingly. When I try to teach her anything, I can always feel her resisting me. She has always been that way, and I suspect that will only get more pronounced in the teenage years. Does every kid hate to take instruction from his or her own parents? I don’t know, but it can sometimes be frustrating. Anyway, today, she listened….mostly. And we had a blast.
We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, the first time Greg had felt like going out since we arrived. His improvement is steady and sure.
It was a fine day in a beautiful relaxing place!
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ramblingrazorback 
If you are having trouble in the Sacred Valley you will do much better to go straight to Machu Piccu. This is a much lower altitude than Cuzco which is your highest point of all- save Cuzco for last!!