Arrival in Cusco

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Well, we´re happy to be back in Cusco after our first visit in 1997.
We flew Lima to Cusco on Thursday afternoon and have been taking it easy acclimatizing to the altitude at 10,000 feet. Not to mention our little hotel is on a hill above the city square, so we´ve been getting our excercise to make up for the hours sitting in the plane. We have a nice basic, clean hotel, with a sunny courtyard and small restaurant. Of course we had the cocoa tea on arrival to help with the altitude. The days are bright with the intense sun and the evenings are quite cool. The city is very easy to walk, so we´ve been exploring on foot. Plenty of travelers from all over here visiting the city, planning treks on the Machu Pichu trail and getting ready for the big Winter Solstice celebration, Inti Rami, taking place next weekend which we´ll be here to see.
We´ve signed up to take Spanish lessons next week so we´ll have a job to go too! A private lesson is $8 per hour. The prices have gone up since our last visit, but still very reasonable. A taxi in town in 2 soles, or 62 cents. There are so many restaurants of every taste and budget in town, it´s very easy to find something we like. ( so far it´s been- kebabs, pizza, hummus and veggie sandwich, etc.)The same for lodging, it just depends what you want. We already had our first panic with "where is my passport", so we´ve gotten better with our habits. The city is bustling with activity, but as Dennis pointed out, there is very little tension in the air. Today we visited the pre-columbian art museum, and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city, looking at all the beautiful alpaca knitwear, sitting in the park and watching the world go by. What a luxury. ...We´re just starting to take photos so I´ll have more in the future. Tomorrow, we´ll visit the nearby Pisac ruins just an hour away and enjoy the scenery in the countryside. until next time....

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Comments

[BRUCE GIONET]

SOLSTICE PARTY
NANCY AND DENNIS, Wish we were there. A part of the world i reallly want to see... and will eventually! We will raise a mug of cocoa in your honor on solstice (summer for us).

[Mary Beth Hamilton]

Glad to know you are safe and enjoying life!
Thanks for letting us know that the both of you are alive and well. Is it cold? I like the idea about Spanish for $8.00 an hour. If I was taking Spanish, we could converse. I should be this summer. Since it is close to winter Solstice, it must be getting dark early. I like your diet. Looking forward to those photos! I will be thinking of you and dreaming about traveling. Mary Beth

[Elizabeth Rose]

Cusco 2006
Love hearing about your travels. Keep us posted. xoxo eliz

[Jill Kuss]

am I jealous!
sounds absolutely wonderful and I think it wise to jump off and let the world go by! just back from Chicago and it was a good trip spending time w/ mom who turns 91 this summer. I just opened email from Martha and her dad passed away last Saturday; can't seem to reach her. hot and humid here, which is unusual, so hopefully will make it to the water for some relief. met a bartender in Chicago who grew up in Mexico City and knew San Miguel de Allende very well - - fun to talk with! safe travels! (the ole lose-the-passport routine does not allow you to even think about not coming back to the states!)