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Published: October 5th 2007
Cusco City Street
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DAY 13:
CUSCO CITY
After waking up at 8:00 a.m. and taking a long, hot shower, I walked to the main square and enjoyed again the beautiful feeling that embraces me each time that I am in
Cusco . I do not know why, but I feel different and full of energy when I am here.
In the main square I met Jose. He was my contact in
Cusco to hike the Inca Trail. I had booked my Inca Trail with him on March, 27th because of availability. I invited him to eat breakfast in one of the restaurants with a view of the main square, which has a couple of beautiful colonial churches. One of them is the Cathedral, a piece of art by itself. Walking inside is just indescribable.
After breakfast, I went to Jose’s office, where he gave me a lot of information about the Inca Trail and different tours and treks. For example, since the Peruvian government allows only 500 people per day on the Inca Trail, the Salkantay Trek is an alternative trek to get to Machu Picchu. (I will hike this one next year by the way.) This trek uses a
Another Cusco City Street
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different route and requires 5 days and 4 nights to be completed, which means one more day than the Inca Trail. Talking to Jose, I realized that my sleeping bag would not keep me warm enough at night and my backpack was too big, so he rented me a sleeping bag and a small backpack for US$ 40.00. I was not expecting this, but whatever.
During this conversation I asked Jose if I could get some help with my backpack and sleeping bag during the second and third days. He told me that the only way to do that is to hire an extra porter, but they need to be hired well in advance because they also need to get a permit to enter the trail. Fortunately, one of the cooks was there, so Jose asked him if he would carry my backpack the second and third days, and he said that he would happily do it for a tip. It was pretty cool of him, but this is something that does not happen often.
Once I got all the information that I needed, I spent the rest of the day walking around the city looking for hostels,
Cusco - Downtown
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lodges and hotels. Then I went to an internet café to download into compact discs the pictures that I had taken so far. They charged me US$ 2.00 per compact disc. After doing this, I realized that I was starving, so I went to eat lunch-dinner at a place called “El Mesón” in one of the corners of the main square. I chose a table on the balcony to admire the main square at night while enjoying a great beef dinner.
After eating, I went back to my hotel to pack and get ready for the big day: the first day of the Inca Trail. Since I would be carrying my backpack, sleeping bag and my camera bag, I tried to pack only relevant stuff: my hiking boots; a flashlight; a good jacket (not heavy); a few t-shirts and long sleeved shirts; sunscreen; repellent; hat; 2 alpaca socks (good for very cold nights); gloves; purification water pills; stomachache, headache and diarrhea pills; and a lot of coca candies. The rest of my clothes would be staying in my hotel at
Cusco .
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