Cusco, Peru

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September 4, 2005
Cusco, on most maps spelled Cuzco, was originally spelled Qosqo and pronounced like Costco. Did you get all that? Cusco was named the most beautiful city in the world this year. The city flag is 1 color different from the gay pride flag. Our contact says they are trying to change the design but it hasn´t been approved so far. We are met at the airport by our hostess, Melbin. Yes - that´s actually her name. We have 3 tours scheduled for the next 3 days so we take it easy this afternoon. We walk around the square and have dinner in the Plaza de Armas. I decide to be daring and order the guinea pig. Dan orders an alpaca steak. The vino and garlic soup appetizer are awesome. Dan is looking a little green (altitude sickness - we are at about 11,000 ft above sea level) so we order some coca tea which is made from the same plant as cocaine. It´s supposed to give a wicked buzz and help with nausea. I don´t feel buzzed and am disappointed with all I´ve heard of the coca tea which is actually illegal in the states. Guess I won´t need to smuggle any back home. The food arrives and Dan´s color is getting worse so he decides to head back to the room. We don´t have our bearings yet so the waiter takes Dan back to the hostel. Not sure if he is expecting a tip or a date. wink, wink! I attempt to eat my guinea pig which arrives with head and heart still attached but can´t find a spot where there is enough meat to eat. The little meat I can locate is so tough that I decide to chow on the alpaca steak instead which turns out to be very good. I get a little turned around on my way back to the room but manage to find it eventually. The streets are flooded with children begging for money. Most of them are selling something. 2 girls who edge in on either side of me recite, backwards, the US presidents when I tell them I´m from TX. When I don't give them a tip they commence to Bush bashing. Since when do 8 year olds have political opinions?

September 5, 2005
The church next door holds mass at the crow of a rooster and enhances it with a drum solo. Our 1 day to sleep in - Dang it! We have a city tour with Antonio today. The bus is nice (not the chicken bus) and the crowd is cool. We see several museums, cathedrals and ruins. We all want to see more of Saqsaywaman (sexy woman) which is supposed to resemble a puma head from above but our guide rushes thru it to get us to the next shopping market. I think he gets kick backs for bringing the tours thru certain stores. At one of the stores he shows us how to distinguish baby alpaca from alpaca from a synthetic/alpaca mix. Everywhere we go people are swearing they have 100% baby alpaca sweaters, blankets, etc. Turns out 95% of these people are lying.

September 6, 2005
Our 2nd day to sleep in is interrupted again by the church next door. What is with the drums? You´d think it was a high school pep rally. We have a 9 hour tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas today but it consists mostly of stops at local markets for more shopping. The baños at these markets are just holes in the floors. They are disgusting but we still had to pay 1 sole each to use them. That´s only about 33 cents but still way overpriced for what you get! We even supply our own TP. We´ve learned to carry baby wipes everywhere we go. We consider ourselves expert alpaca shoppers now so we group up with 2 girls from our tour and hit the sales. We swear this one booth has the real stuff - 100% baby alpaca. I buy a cape and Dan gets a blanket. We all 4 buy together to bargain down the prices. We are so proud of our purchases until our guide takes one look at it and says it´s fake. DOH! We run into Ralph, the 86 year old man from Puerto Maldonado today. We see alot of the same people over & over again. Looks like the tourists all make pretty much the same rounds. We stop for lunch at a restaurant overlooking a river. It was very pretty but the biting gnats were out so we stayed outside only long enough to snap a few photos. We have a couple of pieces of sushi and discover the hottest wasabi on the planet. I thought I was going to die. The guy sitting next to me smells like he hasn´t showered in a few weeks so we cut lunch short and go out front to browse more necklaces and fake alpaca sweaters. We stop at a "bar" to see how Chicha is made. This is a local beer made from corn. For 1 sole we each get a glass. It tastes like someone blended an ear of corn and poured it in a cup. Not good. Our guide has a huge mug. His eyes are already bloodshot. I think he stuck to a liquid lunch today. Luckily he´s not also the bus driver. The adjoining room housed herds of guinea pigs. They look just like the ones at the pet stores. It was cute to see them and yet sad to know they would soon end up on a menu somewhere. We run into Ralph again at the next ruins. We forgot our tix on the bus and had to purchase them again for 40 soles each. Double DOH! Both our camera batteries have died so we rely on our tour group to snap pix for and of us. Back on the bus I have a mild heart attack as our bus driver is doing 90 MPH on a dirt road that is barely wide enough to be 2 lanes. This does not stop people from passing each other going uphill, around a curve where there are no guard rails. Cars honk to alert dogs, pedestrians and other cars of their passing. I´m impressed with how the dogs somehow learn to look both ways before crossing the street. I have yet to see any road kill here. Back in town we end up at a pizza/chicken rotisserie restaurant. This is obviously the 2 favorite cuisines in Peru cuz every restaurant has these staples on the menu. Gorgonzola is way too strong of a cheese to be on a pizza so I end up feeding most of it to the stray, pregnant dogs on the way home.

September 7, 2005
We catch a 6:15 train to Machu Picchu. For four hours we are knee to knee with a french couple. Not the most comfortable ride ever. We take a bus from the train station to the base of the mountain. More heart attacks for me as we are zig zagging along for 45 minutes on hair-pin turns at warp speed with no guard rails. We have to pull over when buses coming down the mountain almost hit us head on. Obviously they have the right of way. The steep drop off of the cliff is killing me and I scream out loud when our back tire actually goes over momentarily. Our guide says not to worry because it´s been years since a bus has gone over the cliff killing all passengers. Is this supposed to reassure me? The ruins are incredible. Biting gnats have followed us today, but I am armed with bug spray. HA! We have about 2 hours to cruise the sites and then we are back on the train heading home. It would have been wiser to stay over night. Oh well, live and learn. The trip back was more enjoyable as most people did stay overnight and the train was empty. We grab an empty row and stretch out.

September 8, 2005
A free day. We sleep in, have lunch, finally make it to the post office, and waste many hours on the computer only to find out that we were downloading pix wrong. Dang it! Edwin, a friend of Nestor´s, has a family run alpaca store in the square. We finally get our genuine baby alpaca gear and at decent prices. Everyone has been raving about the local monastery so we stop by for dinner. It is a beautiful hotel and restaurant but not on the backpackers budget so we opt for another cafe.

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Comments

[Kathleen]

It was great meeting you...
So glad I was able to be a small part of this wonderful trip with you. Wish you could have joined us in hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. You'll have to go back and do it sometime. Enjoy your travels and keep in touch.