Blogs from Cusco, Cusco, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 19

We have arrived in Cusco! We had two brutal flights during the wee hours of the morning hopping from Miami then to Lima. Sleeping on the plane was difficult if not impossible. Once we arrived in Lima, we bought a flight to Cusco and arrived here an hour and a half later. It is absolutely beautiful here, about 70 degrees, partly cloudy with a slight breeze. At the airport we met our program coordinator John, from Belgium, and he took us to the Fairplay headquarters. It is a great place with outdoor classrooms for people to learn Spanish, an entertainment room with big screen TV, and a computer room where we can go online and update our blogs. We spent our first night at the homestay, which is almost more like a hotel than a house. ... read more

So we arrived in Cuzco around 11:00 a.m. and found a great hostel a little bit up on the hill. Cuzco is really neat and a lot of their streets are actually just stairs. Which with the thin air of the high altitude, a large backback, and me out of shape, saw me show up at the door to the hostel and barely able to get two words out. Thankfully Amy is better at Spanish, and apparently more fit! After we dropped off our stuff we went exploring and had some lunch. Amy, Warrior Princess, finally started to feel the effects of the altitude and felt a bit drunk when we were eating lunch. So we both decided that we would take the advice of our previous hostel owner and rest and eat small meals and ... read more

Just through Santa Clara Arch is the pharmacy where I get my gear. In fact I'm so good a customer now that I've been added to their mailing list and may even be invited to the xmas party. Anyway, as you know I've been laid up, suffering all sorts of awfullness I need not go into detail about. But it's been a bad one, I've not eaten a proper meal since Sunday last and have been managing on bananas, water, and electrolyte drinks by the gallon. I've not really been able to go explore the town much further than the main squares and avenues, which is a real pity because it's a lovely place. Today I went back to the pharmacy and gave the girl, named Fanny according to her tag, the lowdown concerning the awfullness. ... read more

QUSQU ) Cusco is a city of many things; as the Incan capital, it was known as the belly-button of the world (much like Rome). The Spanish referred to Cusco as the city of “Luz y Oro,” because the robbed the people and the land of its gold with the mission of “luz,” or a corrupted version of Christianity. Cusco it is also known as the “City of the Sun,” perhaps for the intense white light that the sun emits at such close proximity. Cusco is also the Cultural Capital of the Americas, the Archeological Capital of Americas and Historical Capital of Latin America. Cusco is filled with many riches, yet the most important thing here is the Cartagena Hermoza family. And we came here to see Guillermo's family and to enjoy our time living together, ... read more

CUSCO Initially we had planned to stay in Cusco for 3 wks to work at the Yanpany project and check out Maccu Piccu. After started the school, we both realized this was something worth giving more time to, so decided to stick about. Much to the annoyance of our travel agent (who had to yet again change our flights!) In the end we ended up there, just over two months and it was an unforgettable experience. We thought it best to collect the whole experience into one post, instead of dozens of posts which would have become boring very quickly. I know, it’s very long (skip over it if you want!) but the below details what we did, with who and where over that time. ACCOMMODATION We arrived in Cusco just before Christmas and were thankfully ... read more