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Published: June 24th 2009
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Leaving Arequipa
Leaving Arequipa bound for Lima then to Cusco we took one last look around Arequipa this morning before heading back to Annas. Both jeff and myself think Arequipa is great and would like to have maybe spent one more day here and spent a little more time discovering this fine old city. You can walk everywhere and once again felt safe at night. we only got asked twice if we wanted to buy any drugs but we thought nothing of it as you get this back at home.
we got back to Annas just in time to catch our Taxi to the airport which is about 15 minutes out of town.
At the airport we tried to get through security but they told us we needed to pay the departure tax first, which was about AU$6.00. After we went through customs for a domestic flight mind you, I snapped a good photo of our plane with the back drop of the mountains behind it.
On our flight we met an interesting young Peruvian man in his mid twenties by the name of Aaron and who spoke English very well as he wants to become a tour guide in his native country. we asked Aarom what he does and
Lounge area
Lounge area at Recoleta Cusco he said that he is doing research of the Peruvian vegetables and where they originated from and how they are used in dishes, his aim is to show the world the peruvian culture on DVD. He has just finished his 3rd version of his previous DVD which shows the history of peru and is aimed at the tourist industry. he gave jeff and I a copy of the first edition DVD. This fellow spend more time flying around many of us would.
The views of the desert, the ocean, bare mountains and canyons from the left hand side of the plane were nothing I had ever seen before and again breath taking, the views of the Andes from the other i could'nt really see, (you would think the people who were asleep on that side might have swapped). As the plane touched down in Lima, the passengers on board gave a round of applause to what I don´t know....was this plane not ment to land?
we had landed with only minutes to spare before catching our flight to Cusco and jeff and i were practically running trying to convert Spanish to English or just something that resembled "departures" we
Our Dorm room
This is where we bunked for the night raced through one gate of security officers then remembered we had to pay departure tax again, luckily it was right next to customs. I paid my tax and went around the corner to get through customs, stop and looked at the 200 people in front of me, i turned around and there was still no sign of Jeff, i was thinking he'll catch up. after a few minutes I looked behind me and saw Jeff get in the 200 plus line of people, the time now was 2:35 and the flight for boarding was 2:20, we shuffling through the line slowly until "luck be have it" a security fellow stopped me and opened a new security check point in front of me...I was through and about 5 minutes later so was jeff, we raced towards our departure gate thinking the worse that the flights last call had been done and they would be closing, luck be have it again, there was another 100 line up of people at our gate...flight must have been delayed so we were right to go again onto to Cusco.
the flight to Cusco takes about one and half hours and the views from the
Entrance to Recolet Cusco
Very nice little entry to place left hand side of the plane are jaw dropping, the rugged snow capped andes, the green valleys are a sight unto themselves and unfortunately the photos I have again don´t do it justice.
Arriving in Cusco i have heard it can be a little rugged so I was expecting it, the plane flew parrallel to the landing strip, around the side of a mountain, then dropped a sweeping left hand turn and lands safely...no applause?
We got a lift into town with a tour service jeff managed to scrounge up, it was 15 soles (AU$4.50) taxi charge 20 soles....hehe. We arrived at our hostel at " Recoleta hostel Recoleta" and was very please with it. we new tonight was going to be our Dorm night, and who we got was the luck of the draw. we were shown to our room and the first thing I noticed was womens toiletries....not looking good, she has to sleep with two unshowered, burping, snorning and other bodily function men. Anyway we got to meet here and her name was caroline, only young and in her early twenties and from Los Angeles, only a brief greet and meet as she was heading out
Cusco Plaze De Armos
Cusco Plaza at night on the town and said she would be home late. we dropped our bags off and headed into "Plaza de Armos" where we had a wander around. we found a restaurant and had ourselves a steak, which is the the first meat we have had since leaving Oz. we also remembered we had to get to ollantaytambo tomorrow, so Jeff said lets try the tour operator who picked us up from the airport..which we did and they were still open at 7:30pm on a Sunday night
well she did alright out of us and we saved a lot of time, we booked a sacred valley tour with guide and Buffett lunch (they love buffetts here) and we also booked our Machu Picchu park pass, bus up and back from Machu Picchu and an english speaking guide.
We headed back to our hostel and had another look around some of Cusco streets. Cusco is an amazing city, cobbled stone streets where you wouldn´t have enough room to swing a cat let alond drive down them, but they do. Some are so skinny there is only one small foot path and when a car goes down the street you have
Cusco Plaze De Armos
A shot of the Plaza in the morning to turn your shoulders on some just so not to get hit, you cant pass another pedestrian while a car is coming, you just stop and wait for it to pass. Very lively town and very clean. cetrtainly touristry and many of them are in there late teens early twentys, you could say the Gold Coast of peru, a very Pretty city and certainly different to the others we have visited. At this stage jeff and i must be climatised as we haven't felt nausia at all.
We made our way back to the hostel and had a game of table tennis then decided to hit the hay, caroline wasn't back yet so we were safe, mind you it was only after 9:00pm. i said to jeff what do we wear to bed incase we have to go to the toilet in the night?, well he was wearing his "wheres Wally" thermals and I decided to wear shorts. Well lucky for us (or her) we didn't have to worry, as about 5 minutes before my alarm was due to go off, in wanders Caroline at 5:25am, she gets home we get up....no problem.
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Jo Takle
non-member comment
Wild pigs in dorm.
Sounds like you're having a great time. Caroline must have been waiting out in the hall way for you guys to wake up - she was too scared to go in listening to the snores and grunts - she probably thought two wild pigs had got in her room!