10 days/nine nights. Highlights: San Francisco catacombs in Lima/fly to Cusco/tour Pisac for handicrafts/Inca-built Ollanta/archaeological site of Ollantaytambo/train to Machu Picchu/Sacsayhuaman, Kenko and Tampu sites. Land and internal air, $2,629. Single supp., $1,229. Sol International (Kodak, TN; 800/765-5657).
19 days/18 nights, May 3-21, 2010. Highlights: Lima/La Punta/palace of Puruchuco/Tupac Amaru, site of mummy find/Inca ruins of Vilcashuamán/narrow-gauge train trip to Huancayo/dugout canoe up Amazon to Campa Indian territory/walk a section of the “Inca Road.” $3,700 from Los Angeles. Single supp., $500.
Lifebound Tours (Fallbrook, CA; 760/742-3455).
Seven days/six nights. Highlights: Tunichil Muknal Cave in Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, Belize/Mayan ruins/day trip to Tikal, Guatemala, city of 3,000 Mayan buildings/explore the Hummingbird Highway in Belize/dine on Garifuna cuisine/swim with whale sharks (March-June only) in Hopkins. Land, $3,950.
Big Five Tours & Expeditions (Stuart, FL; 800/244-3483).
(Part 2 of 3)
South of Mérida in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula lies an area of limestone hills and valleys. It’s called the Puuc region, taking its name, appropriately, from the Maya word for “hill.”
My grandmother instilled in me a general love of travel, a curiosity about how people different from my New England people lived.
At the age of 58, she motored in her Willys from Connecticut to Mexico City to visit her perpetual-student son. Four times she did this, from 1948 to 1952, always driving alone (before there were interstates).
Gramma always returned with wonderful stories of the people she met along the way, especially once she was into Mexico. She would stop at little villages, either for something to eat or just because she was curious.
In the ancient city of Pompeii, the collapse of a wall at the Temple of Venus was among damage caused by heavy rains in early March.
In 2010 the House of Gladiators collapsed, with heavy rains suspected as the cause. Repairs began in February 2013 using funds of $160 million from the European Union. Citizens have cited the need for better maintenance to clear drainage channels so areas do not become waterlogged.
8 days, 7 nights in PERU, Oct. 31-Nov. 7, 2014. Group limit, 16. Highlights: In Lima, dinner at 500-year-old Casa Aliaga/in Cuzco, Incan and Spanish-colonial-era monuments/Awanacancha weaving village/Pisac market town/terraced salt mines in Maras/Wayra Ranch/two visits to Machu Picchu. Land, from $4,999 per person, double ($6,099, single), or, with air from Minneapolis, $5,999 ($7,099, single). General Tours (Keene, NH; 800/221-2216).
by Marvin Herman; Delavan, WI
