Primer Dia en Cusco, Peru

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Today we arrived in Cusco. We left Lima around 7am to go to the airport which wasn’t that big of a deal at all, less so than I anticipated. We got there and checked in and made it through security where I promptly pulled a muscle in my leg tying my shoes of all things. Fuck. It still hurts and I have been stretching it. I am pretty sure it will be fine by the time I get to the Inca trail which is next Sunday so I have some time. We got here and immediately I could feel the difference in the air, the simplest tasks like grabbing my luggage left me out of breath and dizzy. We are 11,000+ feet above sea level, which is extremely high. We took a taxi through the city and up towards the center of the city where our hostel is located. We passed through a market that was pretty much what you would expect when you think of South America, filled with all kinds of meats and fish, fruit and vegetables, and tons and tons of people. The meat and fish and everything is just out in the heat and the sun so I really find it pretty sketchy but still a very cool sight to see that is for sure. When we arrived at the hostel we had to wait an hour or so to check out bags and as we were finishing up our check in, we saw Rialah and Adolf, the two travellers from the Condor’s House in Lima. Just a little note on the Condor’s House, it was pretty bad compared to where we are now. This hostel is called Pariwana and it is sooo much better. They have big, soft beds and you get two soft pillows to sleep on! Not to mention, get this…are you ready??? HOT WATER THAT FEELS LIKE YOU’RE BACK HOME IN AMERICA!! Haha so amazing, I just took a long shower and really enjoyed myself soaking up the heat. Also they have free breakfast here. It’s a lot chillier in Cusco than it is in Lima; I am wearing my fleece and my winter hat at the moment. Anyways after we checked in I was talking to our friends and another traveller named Carl about how they were feeling and the local remedy to combat the altitude sickness is to chew the coca leaves that are legal here. You chew them up and keep them in your mouth like a dip, or you can make a tea or “mate” out of the leaves which also help. It had me feeling a little buzz and a little better in no time. We arrived today and it is a day of celebration here in Cusco. There was a parade for the national heritage and city heritage which included hundreds of dancers in traditional Inca dress and everyone was walking around with these canisters of foamy soap and spraying each other, we got hosed a lot! It was very cool to see all of these people participating because it was people of all ages who were having a good time. Also the little boys and girls walk around with buckets of water and just toss these buckets of water on passersby regardless of race, creed, or color. It is pretty hilarious and certainly something very wild that I did not expect to see on my first day here. We all watched the parade for a while and in the procession were the local bomb squad in their armored vehicle; they were hanging off of it and spraying everyone they could. Down here the police are paid to look like bad asses so i am pretty sure that they don’t often get a chance to show their more playful or happy side. They looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Afterwards we walked around a little to try and find some place to eat that was reasonable. We walked along the cobblestone streets for a little while and just enjoyed the scenery. This place is ancient. It is pretty unreal that this sort of history exists tucked away in the lush green mountains. It was just a beautiful sight what with the sun shining and all the people having fun at the festival. It’s pretty much like stepping into the past 500 years ago. We found a little place up a small narrow cobblestone street that served a menu for 5 soles which is like 2.75 or something like that, we got soup and a chicken dish and some soda. It was very good and very economical. I could eat like that every day. After we ate Brett and I went to the hostel to get settled in as my leg was bothering me and I wanted to try and take it easy. The rest of the group went on some excursion up the mountain to see this statue that overlooks the city. We got back here and were shown our room which was lovely. I immediately passed out for like four hours; I think I needed the sleep pretty bad. I feel a lot better now but still a little based out which is expected up here since six hours ago we were at sea level. The sun is a lot hotter up here also by the way. I woke up and took a shower and talked to Mayra a little and she told me to chew some coca leaves to feel better which clearly I had already done. I sent my dad an email and had some more mate to try and help out. This place is very cool and very chill. I am really enjoying it. As I was getting out of the shower I experience my first rain in Cusco, it was fairly nice because I was in a hot shower for the first time in a while on a chilly rainy night. It gave me the feeling of a warm blanket, some security in a new strange place. If I were Bear Grylls I would say that the hot shower was like the fire, it’s more of a morale builder than anything, a friend that keeps your spirits up. So now Brett and I are sitting in the hostel bar listening to some reggae and chilling with some mate de coca. We are going to have the BBQ here at the hostel tonight and it should be pretty good. I am looking forward to eating a nice meal tonight. I’m not sure what we’re up to tonight but I will update once I figure it out. Chau. Dinner was great, there were three salads and skewered chicken as well as hamburger and sausage. Que bueno. Brett and I had some wine with dinner although according to the hostel rules any alcohol that isn’t purchased here at the hostel is forbidden. After dinner we sat and talked with the British girls that were at our hostel Condor’s house in Lima for a while, they are doing pretty well and it was nice to catch up with them. Rialah and Adolph are both leaving tomorrow so they convinced us to go have some drinks even though I didn’t really want to because after feeling the way I did today I couldn’t imagine being hung over tomorrow! I only had a beer and a Pisco sour though, so I am feeling fine and hope to be tomorrow as well. We went to a bar called Mama Africa and it was pretty chill, we hung out and talked a lot about how nice it was to meet people when travelling and how so many people are often pretentious about their travels or lives and are what we call “one uppers” however that was a new term to Adolph, Rialah and Carl, who we were with. Adolph told Brett and me that we were not typical Americans and that he thought we were much more intelligent and worldly. He said his impression of Americans had been a bad one, he has never been to the States, but he said after meeting us he had a different view. That made me very happy to hear. After a lot of conversation and some chilling Brett and I decided to go back to the hostel and turn in early. There was a light rain on the walk home through the dimly lit cobblestone streets, we wore our fleece and pants and rain gear as well as our winter hats, it’s probably around 50 degrees here which is a stark contrast from the hot nights in Lima. We decided that even after only being here for a day, this place was much nicer and much cooler than Lima in many ways. I am not going to be in bed earlier than I have been this entire trip! Before midnight! The Wi-Fi doesn’t work at the hostel right now so I can’t upload any photos or anything or post this to the blog but rest assured I will. Me encanta todos y espero q tengan un buen semana en sus trabajos. Hasta pronto.

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