Back on the Road Again Tomorrow, Finally

Cordillera Blanca – Huaraz, Peru

Tomorrow night at 5 p.m. we’ll officially be back on the road again. Lima (Miraflores) has been a long layover for us, and it’s an expensive place to layover (about double the price when compared to other locations in Peru). It’s still pretty cost-effective compared to the States, but we’ve become habituated to low prices (sometimes really low prices) since moving south. Anyway, it will be nice to be moving again.

We originally thought we’d make a straight run from Lima to Cusco, but it’s about 25 hours by bus. So we’ve elected to split the trip into two parts: first Lima to Arequipa (about 15 hours) where we’ll stay for a few days, then Arequipa to Cusco which will be another 10 hours by bus. While in Cusco we’ll arrange to visit Machu Picchu.

High in the Andes we’ll be returning to high altitude. Arequipa is about 7,000 feet and Cusco is 11,000 feet. Machu Picchu (counterintuitively) drops back down to 7,000 feet, but then we’ll head to Lake Titicaca at 12,500 feet. Remember, when flying in an airplane you have to use oxygen at altitudes over 10,000 feet. We were in Huaraz for almost 3 months, and the altitude there was 10,000 feet (you definitely feel it).

We got a lot done while staying in Lima: I got my lens repaired, and both Joel and I refined our websites and setup marketing programs with MailChimp for our two websites: Indochine Photography at www.IndochinePhotography.me and Joel R. Dennstedt at www.JoelRDennstedt.com. We’re (both) now offering free monthly e-Newsletters and various VIP programs. Exciting stuff.

I also have 5 more articles for Northrup Photo in the pipeline, so keep your eyes open for those. So Lima was good for getting administrative things done, but the whole purpose of this world adventure is to travel. It will be nice to get back to priority number one. The basic business plan calls for: taking pictures, writing, and travelling. Starting tomorrow night we’ll be back to our original plan. If I drop off the grid periodically not to worry, it just means that the internet is sketchy, or I’m busy experiencing new stuff.

Stephen F. Dennstedt

Photographer, Writer, and World Traveller

Lima, Peru