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Published: January 26th 2010
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We left Nazca on Thursday, November 26th, the night of Thanksgiving. Little did we know that it would be a sleepless night. The bus takes 13-14 hours from Nazca to Cuzco. We had bought semi-cama seats (reclining seats) from the bus company Cial, but when we arrived at 8 pm that night, we were told that our bus was canceled, but we were being put onto another bus from a neighboring company into cama seats, seats that fully reclined to approximately 15 degree angles. The seats were very nice, large, cushiony, and reminded me of first class in an airplane. They even had an angled piece for your calves.
It was nice and comfortable in the begining, until the bus started climbing and the altitude sickness started to set in. It wasn´t as bad at first - a bit of trouble breathing - but then it got worse as I started to have a much harder time breathing and was gasping for air. The worst of it was when I realized that I had packed my altitude sickness pills away in my luggage stored underneath the bus, since I hadn´t needed them this entire time. I also had motion sickness
from the switchbacks of the bus, not being able to see out the window (it was pitch black), and being tossed around in the seat due to my slippery synthetic pants. At one point, I sat huddled on the floor between my seat and the one in front, just so I wouldn´t get tossed around, as my head was spinning out of control at the time. George seemed to deal with it ok, but it was tough on him as well.
With the combination of altitude and motion sickness, needless to say it was a sleepless night. We were exhausted when we pulled into Cuzco around 10am. We took a taxi and beelined for our chosen hostel, Southern Comfort, and after getting to our dorm room (they had no doubles, only dorms), we both promptly fell asleep on our bunk beds and slept for nearly the rest of the day.
Our first two days in Cuzco were mostly spent recovering from our bus ride and preparing for the Inca Trail. We tracked down Altrek, the company that we had booked with online back in June, paid the rest of our fees, and met with our guide for a
debriefing of what was to come. We had most of the clothing that we needed to bring, but still needed a few warm items, i.e. hats and gloves, in preparation for the cold nights we were told that would encounter along the trail.
On Sunday, November 29th, we decided to pay a visit to the large Sunday market in Pisac, a town a few miles away from Cusco located in the Sacred Valley, hoping to get our hats and gloves there. It was nearly midday before we headed out. We waited at what we thought was the bus stop for the collectivos to Pisac and the Sacred Valley, but were told by the locals that only local buses stopped there. However, taxi drivers had heard that we wanted to head to Pisac and were offering their services to drive us there - but for $40 US! That was an exhorbant price considering that the bus only costs 2 soles (which is less than a dollar)! We even had one tell us that there were no such buses that went to Pisac, but we knew for a fact that there was a bus terminal a bit further away that specifically
serves Pisac. We balked at his offer and went to look for the bus terminal. After a few wrong turns and finally asking for proper directions, we found the station and paid our 4 soles to Pisac. Ironically, the closer we got to the bus station, the more taxi drivers were offering their services - some right in front of the station! Do they really get business that way?
The bus to Pisac follows the winding road uphill away from Cuzco and passes by the four Inca ruins close to the city. The road is quite scenic as it goes into the Sacred Valley, with farmlands and their corresponding animals (cows, sheep, and burros mostly) surrounded by the mountains.
Pisac was a small town situated in a valley nestled among the mountains. It is known for its ruins on top of a nearby mountain and of its markets, Sunday being the largest (but with markets on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well). Since we had arrived so late and were still recovering from the altitude of the area, we decided to save the ruins for another day when we would have more time to wander (which we did).
The market covered the entire central plaza and then some. The outskirts were full of vendors selling food, grains, and fresh fruits and produce, but the artesans were further in. We were specifically looking for a hat for George and gloves for the both of us. Since the people in the Andes are known for their llama and alpaca wool products, such items were not hard to find. In fact, they were so common that every other handicraft stall was selling them! We tried to buy from different vendors and in the end, George got his handwoven llama-wool hat and we both got our gloves. I even picked up an extra pair of alpaca socks just in case - so my toes won´t freeze in the tent!
We wandered the market some more and after stopping for lunch at a hippie-like sandwich place, we got back on the bus heading to Cusco, where we chilled for the rest of the day.
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Charlene Narine
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what a bus ride
Eva, Very sorry that you had such a bad terrible bus ride. I cannot imagine.. actually I am recovering from the stomach flu so maybe I can. lol Sounds like your time improved. Love George's new hat.