So, as 2009 approached and we found ourselves together once again for the Holidays, we began to brainstorm.  Where could we go that could possibly match or supersede last year?  At first we were thinking tropical, since we had just returned form 2 gorgeous Caribbean trips to Aruba and Jamaica.  However, we decided that we wanted to go somewhere culturally rich and that was going to change our lives. 

For a long time I have had a fascination with Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.  You might not know it by name, but I am sure that you would recognize it in pictures.  It is the world’s largest salt flats and when people take pictures standing on the flats it looks as though they are floating in air.  I mentioned this to M. and within minutes we both knew that this is where we wanted to go; we had 2 weeks and we were going to explore as much of Bolivia as we could with a necessary stop in Salar de Uyuni (pictures to be posted in a future blog).

Plans change though and part of the beauty of traveling is to be open to these changes.  M. found a way that we could fit in a 4 day side-trip to Peru.  The only way it could work though was to spend New Year’s Eve day in Machu Pichu and New Year’s Eve night in Cusco.  We could not believe our luck!  Ringing in the new year in one of the most magnificent, sacred, and unforgettable places on this earth.  We were definitely going to top 2008’s celebration, or so we thought!

To be continued...