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Published: March 6th 2013
No, the title has nothing to do with a movie from the early 90’s, nor does it have anything to do with illegal substances (or even some of the legal ones I have been known to enjoy). No, today it is about lack of sleep, layovers and altitude. In my mind I had visions of a slow night at work the night before I left. I would slip out, go home and quietly unwind before the alarm went off at 4:30 AM. Perhaps I should have included winning the lottery in that scenario because it wouldn’t have happened either. But here I am in Cusco, Peru, so all is well. At over 11,000 feet elevation, altitude sickness can be an issue here. I started taking Diamox on Sunday to help prevent this and actually felt pretty darn good until the late afternoon today. True, I was groggy and a bit disoriented all day, but that often happens after an overnight flight. Now, however, I have a splitting headache. Can't be sure if altitude is the cause since I get headaches fairly frequently, but I felt it would play into a more fun title than something along the lines of
"Crap, Another Fricken' Headache". See what I mean?
My flights were actually very pleasant. No delays, no wailing babies or drunken adults. I booked early enough that I had exit rows on the 2 long segments. Simply having that extra leg room really makes a flight better. I wasn’t even too upset when my Kindle refused to open any of the books I had purchased for this trip. I was able to find some older ones I had not yet read and enjoyed reading them. I also watched Finding Nemo and Best of Show. Both are oldies, but still as funny today as when I first saw them. Writing this in my hotel room late tonight, I can say that I had to delete all the books, restart the Kindle and then reload them. Sure, why not. It was so much fun to delete each one and just as an added bonus, I reloaded them all just as the error message said to, only to find out that they still wouldn’t open. It was only after searching the website that I discovered the restart. But see, I am fine with it. This is all part of traveling and I
know that I am not in control of many things. It is a good exercise in patience (something I sorely lack).
My flight landed at 6:30AM in Cusco. This was one of those times when I dusted off
Pamper Brendan and had someone waiting at the airport for me. I brushed aside all of the aggressive taxi drivers and headed straight for the man holding the sign with my name on it. Since there is no public transportation from the airport, I felt it was the right thing to do. By arriving so early, my hotel room was not ready. They were very helpful, let me have some coca tea to help with altitude sickness, allowed me to store my luggage and highlighted a map with some places to see. In my opinion, Cusco is not a big destination so much as a starting point for trips to Machu Picchu. There are some very nice areas with cathedrals, parks and there are some nice shops; however, the majority of things are geared towards tourists and making money off of them. I ran into many people asking for money, offering massage (really, it is similar to the people on the
Nice View I Thought
Looking over Plaza de ArmasStrip in Vegas as they try to hand you the girly ads, and yes, I did actually use the word girly ads- wow my head is pounding) offering to pose for pictures with various accoutrements. I went back to the hotel to get some things out of my bag and found that my room was ready. Oh heck yes! I went up and slept for 5 hours, then brushed my teeth, showered and felt human again.
Having been able to rest up, I headed back down to a spa I had found this morning. They offered massage and I desperately needed one. I don't normally get a massage, but when on vacation it seems the thing to do, and let me tell you, it was such bliss. My shoulders were so tight from lugging my carry on that I could barely move. It was another victory for
Pamper Brendan, although I think
Travel Brendan is getting ready to take charge. I have a full day tour tomorrow and then head down for a Machu Picchu tour Thursday and Friday. I apologize if this is short and a bit discombobulated, but as I said, my head is pounding. After the
massage I spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room getting organized for the next couple days and more honestly, just sprawling on the bed doing nothing. Hopefully a good night of sleep will take care of my headache. So, until next time, ciao.
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Dave
non-member comment
Dazed and confused
Travel Brendan is on the case! Pamper Brendan is offering up good advice! It's a win-win. Enjoy, my friend.