Advertisement
Published: June 20th 2009
We finally made it to Cusco, albeit one day late. Here's what's been going on since I left you.
We hung out in a while in the Costa Rica airport. We ran into someone from our home town that we had not seen in about five years, give or take a year. He has since moved to the Miami area, and was returning home from a week on his honeymoon. Stranger things have happened.
TACA airlines got us to Lima ontime last night. We made our way through to the LAN Peru desk and were very lucky that there was no line. Although I guess 8 people in 4 separate groups needing to have tickets changed and hotel vouchers issued caused a line, but that's not my point.
We finally got a good night sleep in a hotel that was so close to the airport that I (Melissa) could throw a Styrofoam cup out the window and likely hit it. We got on a 7:20am flight to Cusco, and made it to our hotel by around 9:30am.
As mentioned before, we are staying at the Hotel Rumi Punku. We found it on Trip Advisor, and have been
spending months looking at the pictures of the place. The pictures do not do it justice. It is an open air structure (except for the living and dining areas. The minute you walk in off the street (it has a secure entrance) you are swept over with a calm, peaceful feeling. It's just gorgeous.
We started to wander around the town. We found out that because it's Cusco week, there would be a parade going on. (Which explained the loud explosions we heard.) So we went off in search of the parade route. We found a cute girl with a little Alpaca. Of course she was offering pictures, so we took one. It was the first and likely the only, as people expect you to pay for it. Right now, with all the festivals and Inti Raymi, this could be offered up to you every 10 to 15 feet. Not a big deal.
Right near the edge of the parade route, we found Paddy's Irish Pub. Dan is now happy in case the Cusqueno beer and Pisco Sours are not good enough for him.
We found a little farmer's market going on, and I think we may
try to run back there on Sunday to get some grub and maybe a funny alpaca hat. Who knows...
It's weird when you get a whiff off food and realize you're really, really hungry. So we headed back in the direction of our hotel and stopped at Jack's, which is a restaurant that was on our list to try. It gets great reviews, and I understand why. It's not local food, but it is wonderful. I tried a Pisco Sour, which tastes kind of like a margarita, but better. And Dan got his beer.
Tonight we're trying a restaurant with local fare, although we haven't picked one yet. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not planning on eating Guinea Pig, but I think I'll try some Alpaca.
We're both pleasantly surprised not to be having any ill effects from the altitude so far. We were both a bit tired after hiking around in the (incredibly bright and intense) sun for a couple of hours, but that just could be from our rather hectic and stressful last couple of days.
Sunday is a guided city tour. More later!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.058s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0362s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Gina H
non-member comment
how cool!
great update...sounds fabulous. You are far more adventurous than I. :) wonderful pics. :)