An opportunity to travel to another country doesn’t come along every day. And when that opportunity comes with a built-in tour guide, it’s even more rare.
Such an opportunity arose for Deb Freking, and Gene and Marge Freking, as Deb’s employer, attorney Pat Costello, and his wife Marcy, a native of Peru, were planning on visiting the country. As they had talked to several people about the country, the Costellos had decided to invite a large group to come along and tour the country. “They wanted to get a group of about 18, so we would fill a bus,” Deb explained. With a near capacity tour bus, the group could tour the country without having others share portions of the trip.
As the large group formed, and the Costellos organized the trip. With Marcy as a native Peruvian, she knew the language, customs and the country, and shared her knowledge with the area residents that were able to join her, Pat and their daughter, Isabella, on the trip.
Leaving on December 27, the Frekings joined the Costellos and others from Windom, Jackson and Lakefield in Lima, Peru. “Pat, Marcy and their daughter were the perfect guides and chaperones,” Marge said. “As good as it gets,” Gene added. Located on the Pacific Ocean slightly above sea level, Lima is the capital of Peru, and has a population of about 11 million people, the same size as New York City.
“They were crazy drivers,” they said of the native Peruvians in Lima. “But there were no accidents that we seen, either.” Dodging in and out of traffic, cars and pedestrians were everywhere in the city. “Everyone seems to be watching,” they added. “You’re missing cars by inches.”
At the time of their visit, the country was in the midst of their New Year’s celebrations. The holiday is celebrated for a week to ten days, and community celebrations were being held throughout Peru.
After a couple of days in Lima, the group flew to Cusco, which is referred to as the tourist capital of Peru. “From there, you can branch out to the archeological and tourism sites,” Gene added. Cusco, with a population of about 250,000 people, is located 12,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains. The area around Cusco is known as the Sacred Valley, and includes the Machu Picchu archeological site.
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