We have been using a TD Travel Visa that includes a variety of insurance provided you use that Visa card to book your trip. Now, we have a Scotiabank Passport Travel Visa and it includes the same suite of insurance products. Interestingly, in all of our years of travel, we have never had to use cancellation insurance, and this year we have had to use it twice!
As you'll remember, we had to cancel our original flights to Australia back at the middle of May.
Lots of photos today!
On Saturday, we took the kids across the river into the province of Quebec for a hike in Gatineau Park. It's really popular at this time of year because of the fall foliage.
Chester, Lindsey, Sadie, Ruth, and Cameron.
A walk in the forest.
At Meech Lake.
The tree tops are a mix of red, orange, yellow, and green.
Ruth and Meech Lake.
Chester and Lindsey taking a break.
Cameron.
Sadie likes to do everything her big brother does!
We stopped at the Carbide Willson Ruins for lunch.
Sadie posing on a rock.
Sadie likes to have her picture taken!
Cameron and Ruth.
Cameron loves the outdoors.
Cameron, Ruth, and Sadie.
At the base of the falls.
We had a nice fall walk. I didn't have my GPS tracking us, but I think we did about 6 kms (3.7 miles).
Saturday evening while I was working on changing our travel plans, Ruth borrowed Lindsey's vehicle and drove to Arnprior, Ontario where she picked up a school friend and they both went to attend their 40th anniversary high school graduating class reunion.
Ruth with her high school friends.
Yesterday, Ruth went to downtown Ottawa with Lindsey and the kids. I stayed back at the house to do two weeks worth of Peru travel research in one day! Justin also stayed to do some work on the house.
One of the reasons they went downtown was to try out the brand new Ottawa Light Rail Train. The system only opened about two weeks ago after a 5 year construction period that included building a tunnel under downtown Ottawa.
Here comes the train.
Sadie and Cameron had never been on a train before.
Sadie and Cameron in downtown Ottawa.
They met their Uncle Alex (our son) while they were downtown.
Grandma with the kids.
Ottawa is a beautiful city (once you get away from the construction!)
Sadie.
Looking for fossils.
Playing tourist in downtown Ottawa.
Grandpa telling stories at bedtime.
So, while Ruth was out downtown, I was researching our Peru trip.
We're pretty much decided that we will avoid Cusco and Machu Picchu.
The main reason for that is that everybody who visits Peru goes there. We would prefer to see some of the less visited areas and stay away from the throngs of tourists. Having said that, we are going to stay for a full week in the small city of Huaraz (pop 118,000) at the base of Huarascán National Park. It looks like it's a hikers paradise with many different trails around the region.
First, we have four nights in Lima staying in a basic house with a local family who do not speak any English.
Then, we have booked the luxury bus on Friday to take us on the 8 hour journey from Lima to Huaraz where we have booked a fairly pricey apartment for the week. Since we are not going to expensive Galapagos anymore, we figured we might splurge on our accommodation a little bit in Peru.
After that, no firm plans yet, but I have been looking at the rarely visited Cotahuasi Canyon. Not many tourists go there because it's a 12 hour journey on rough roads. But that's exactly the type of place we love!
Hiking in Peru's Cotahuasi Canyon.
And so, we are off!
First flight is from Ottawa to Montreal, then 9 hours direct from Montreal to Lima, Peru.
Next blog post coming to you from Peru tomorrow morning!
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Mars Halloween Chocolates. This is a 250 pack, so you might have some left over for yourself!
And in Canada...
Exciting! Looking forward to hearing about this change in adventure! Not sure if you've been reading www.monkeysontheroad.com at all - they've been going all down Peru, and it looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteYes, we think we are going to have an exciting 20 days in Peru and we're looking forward to seeing and experiencing a different culture.
DeleteNo we haven't been reading them but we will certainly have a look at their blog, thanks.
Awesome! My friend did a camping tour for 2 weeks in the mountains that went to Machu Pichu....she loved it but it's not for everyone. That was an organized tour. Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteAlthough doing the Inca trail to Machu Picchu would be an awesome experience we have decided not to do it, just because it seems to be what everyone does in Peru and we want to do different stuff. Plus Machu Picchu is on the endangered list from overtourism and we just don't want to add to that problem. I think we will have no problem finding things to do that will be amazing and not so crowded.
DeleteThat canyon looks scary! Am excited to go along with u guys to see a new place!!!
ReplyDeleteWe think it looks amazing and much less touristy than Machu Picchu. It is going to be a fun and exciting twenty days. :-)
DeleteLooks like amazing hiking! I am not sure I would want to stay in a local house because I need my privacy, but it should make for interesting blog posts. Can't wait to follow along on your trip with you!
ReplyDeleteYes, the hiking here looks amazing, we can't wait to get started.
DeleteWe have stayed in accommodations a number of times where we have shared it with the occupants. Yes, it is nice having your own privacy but this way you get to experience the people and the culture better. We always try to make sure that we have our own bathroom though. The accommodation that we have after this one is for a week and it will be our own place. So we are trying to mix it up.
Just returned from Peru this morning! Wonderful experience, 6 days in the sacred valley and Machu Picchu, 3 day eco-tour in the Amazon.
ReplyDeleteIf you are visiting haruaz, may you squeeze a little time to visit chavin de huantar, it is just couple hours away.
DeleteI am looking forward hearing about your visit to peru.
We are so happy that you enjoyed your adventure in Peru, is sounds like it would have been a great time. As much as we would like to experience Machu Picchu and the surrounding areas we have decided to give it a miss on this trip so that we can find more off the beaten path types of places that aren't on the normal tourist route. The Amazon sounds wonderful though.
DeleteThank you for that suggestion "Unknown" that is more like the type of off the beaten path place that we would like to see. No promises but if we can fit that into our plans we will certainly try too. :-)
Peru is a beautiful country filled with good food and very humble people (outside of Lima) although Lima has a very unique cultural background I think at this time it’s best avoided, Enjoy the many riches Peru has to offer ❤️
ReplyDeleteWe are so looking forward to exploring Peru. And we realize that twenty days is not going to be enough time but I am sure that we will do it justice.
DeleteWe only have three full days planned in Lima before we head out to explore. Big city aren't usually our thing but we still like to check them out.
Hi! Nice story!
ReplyDeleteI'm from Peru and now I'm traveling in British Columbia, so just I can say: enjoy Peru! There are many things to do over there, delicious food, so nice weather :D
Thank you Katya, I have no doubt that we will enjoy your beautiful country. Our three weeks here will not be enough time to do everything that we would like to do but it will give us a good taste of the country and hopefully we will be able to return again sometime in the future.
DeleteWe hope that you are enjoying our wonderful country. British Columbia is definitely a perfect spot to visit, although you may not have as nice of weather as what we will have here in Peru.