Blogs from Cusco, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 187

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 ... read more

Our flight landed in Lima last night, adn we were immediately accosted by the Tourist Information people. I´ve never seen anyone push "free tourist information" with so much determination! They offered to reconfirm our flight for free (since it´s high tourist season, and sometimes things happen), but were surprised to find that we already had boarding passes for our connecting flight to Cuzco. They immediately asked us what we were doing, and had we booked our train tickets to Macchu Picchu yet: "It´s high tourist season, and you might not be able to get a spot", etc. They offered to check to see if there was space available (free information), and told us to go to a booth on the second floor of the airport. I went and re-checked my luggage to Cuzco, although once again ... read more

Not all days can be perfect. Your travel destination can't always shine. Sooner or later, the bad comes out with the good. But, you can't let it get you down. We started by having our B&B hire a driver for us to Pisac where they have a famed arts and crafts market on Sundays. Once we got there, the driver informed us that the fee only include a 1-hour wait even though we told the B&B that we wanted to stay until the late afternoon. Of course, if we paid more, then we could stay longer ... Anyhow, I guess the lesson here is that these are the kind of things you gotta spell out before you hop in a car in a foreign country. I suppose this goes without saying everywhere in the world, so ... read more

Hola Amigos, Tracy and I arrived in Lima at 5:30 this morning only to wait in line at customs and at baggage claim, so of course, we missed our 6am flight to Cusco. Thankfully we had Atticus to translate and get us on a new flight at 9:30 am. We arrived in Cusco within the hour, and the views of the Andes mountains were unbelievable from the plane! Our hostel is very cute. It has a beautiful court yard to sit and have mate(tea made of coca leaves....said to help with altitude sickness) We are feeling very tired from our overnight flight, of which I only slept 1 hour. We are planning to rest and acclimatize so as to not feel the effects of altitude sickness. Tomorrow we will go to the train station to get ... read more

Stuck in Lima waiting for our delayed flight to Cusco, I sit with my friends sleepily. To protect the identities of the innocent and guilty alike, I'll refer to them (appropriately) as Stinky Buns, Saggy Buns, and Silly Buns. In any case, I feel like this lull at the start of my vacation is a good opportunity to make my first entry. Although there is very little to write, I still feel the need to fill this space, this time. Perhaps, I could answer the question of why do I travel? Well, that answer won't be coming in these pages (at least not a deep one anyway). I figure, this journal will serve me best if I can find the time to jot down the funny things along the way. Most likely, I won't put down ... read more