... and on to Cusco

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After only a few hours sleeping at the airport hotel in Lima it was time to head back to the airport to check in for our flight to Cusco, Peru. Lima Airport was crazy, busy! Thank goodness we had Gina to facilitate our passage through check-in and security. I'm sure it would have taken us much longer on our own!

When we passed through security we saw a huge Perspex container that contained sharp objects that have been confiscated. It was quite shocking what people had in their carry-on bags - full-size scissors, not just small, manicure scissors and all sorts of knives, including at least one 12 inch cook's knife that I could see!! Do people walk around all the time with these sorts of things in their handbags and then just forget they have them when they are going to fly somewhere??

This morning we had to be bussed from the gate lounge to our aeroplane out on the Tarmac. Some of our group headed out to the aeroplane in the first bus with the rest of us following on a second bus. Just before we left the gate one of our group heard the staff say that four passengers who were checked in had not passed through the departure gates. Oh no, we thought, that might hold things up a bit if they have to off-load their luggage.

On the plus side boarding the plane out on the Tarmac means it can be filled from both ends. Once again we were towards the back of the plane so we carefully stayed outside the area demarcated with orange cones as we walked to the back of the plane. Yesterday we were bemused by passengers photographing themselves in the skybridge, today we were amazed by passengers backing past the orange cones, towards the plane to take photos. The ground staff had to yell and wave at them to go back outside the danger zone. D'Oh!

We filed up the gangway into the rear of the plane and then we were at a standstill due to passengers having seated themselves in the wrong seats. The passengers in the incorrect seats really didn't want to move. Eventually the couple who had been allocated the seats in the back row on the left of the plane managed to get their bums in those seats. Then the unbelievably rude couple who'd been ousted from those seats tried to negotiate with the people of the right side of the plane so that they could sit one each side of the aisle. The guy in the other aisle seat wasn't about to give up his aisle seat though! For goodness sake you people - there's half a plane full of passengers waiting out on the gangway/Tarmac for you to sort yourselves out.

Finally everyone was seated and then we sat and waited ... and waited ... to get underway. Ho, hum, no announcement was made, but we're guessing that the delay had something to do with the passengers who didn't make it to the departure on time?! When we did take-off it was for another short, uneventful flight which saw us landing in Cusco, Peru at a height of 3,399 metres (11,800 feet). The lower concentration of oxygen in the air did make it feel a bit difficult to breathe!

At Cusco Airport we were met by our guide in Peru, Breytzi (pronounced like Tracey, but stating with a B). Large busses are prevented from entering some parts of Cuzco so we piled ourselves and our luggage into two mini busses. The busses drove us to a restaurant housed in a magnificent old colonial mansion. We enjoyed our first Peruvian meal to the accompaniment of a band playing traditional Peruvian music.

After lunch we visited the nearby ruins of Koricancha (the Temple of the Sun), once the most spectacular temple in the lncan Empire. The temple was the main astronomical observatory for the lncas. At one time it is estimated that as many as 4,000 priests and their attendants lived within its confines. Dedicated to worshipping the sun, the temple complex was literally a 'courtyard of gold' which is the English translation of Koricancha.

When the Spanish arrived they looted and then destroyed the temple and then used the foundations to build the Dominican convent of Santo-Domingo. The result is a rather incongruous clash of architectural styles.

After this little taste of Cusco's sights we strolled to the Novotel Hotel. Gina and Breytzi didn't push us too hard as we adjusted to the altitude! Gina facilitated our check-in and returned from the desk with our room keys. As she handed them out she told us that she would take us on a short orientation walk - to point out the laundry, the supermarket, money exchange, ATMs, restaurants etc - if we met her back down in the foyer in half an hour. What the?! When do we get to lay down and rest? Our short, slow orientation walk was exhausting! Most of us found that it was beyond us to walk and talk at the same time!! And, as if the lack of oxygen isn't enough - some of the streets are pretty full of carbon monoxide from the cars zipping about.

Feeling a bit wiped out, we took it pretty quietly for the rest of the afternoon/evening and ate in the hotel's dining room tonight rather than go any further afield.

Steps 7,904 (5.58km)

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Photos

Koricancha
Trapezoidal windows

Temple of the Sun
Sun Calendar

Comments

[Janet Morrison]

Hope you are rested
Sounds like quite a pace you are also setting in that heat. I couldn't manage that unfortunately but am content with the armchair ride. Your blog reminded me of a couple of stories. I once went to Sydney with my friend Mikki and her friend Di, both nursing sisters. Di was stopped going through security after screening because she had an assortment of scissors and artery forceps in her handbag, some even in the lining of her bag! Must have had 5 or 6 items. She said she was always going home with them in her pockets and threw them in her handbag. I was amazed that she simply forgot they were there! Your discussion re seating on the plane also reminded me of a time when we boarded to find someone had taken one of our seats and refused to move. The guy told us that he and his wife wanted to sit together. I pointed out that this meant that we could not sit together despite the fact that we had actually been allocated those particular seats and were also husband and wife. Phil relented and sat in the other row without talking to any staff. Fortunately it was only a short flight, perhaps Phil wanted a rest, haha! The man ended up being very nice and I did feel sorry for them in the end as his wife didn't speak any English. Still the irony was not lost on me. You must be loving the architecture, different textures and a new landscape to explore. When you are looking for photographic moments your eye is checking it all out. I wonder how many you both take each day? Hope you managed to get some rest before the next full day of activity. It is just as well that you have been shepherded around at times so you don't have to waste too much time getting orientated to airports etc.

[Caroline Brunner]

Altitude of Cusco.
Hi there Tracey & Bernie, so good to see familiar scenery thru your camera. I loved Cusco. I was in the region for a month as a volunteer and was in & out of Cusco nearly every day. What does surprise me though is the problem you're having with altitude. I was warned about this and it was recommended to chew coca leaves or coca lollies [which are quite nice], but I didn't have any problems at all while I was there and, as part of volunteering, I was daily up into the mountain villages working with local communities. I walked nearly everywhere and was never worried with altitude. Perhaps I was just lucky because I never needed coca to help me either. Enjoy Cusco; hope you have sufficient time to explore the side streets and appreciate the shops and the wonderful locals dressed in traditional costumes who parade around usually with a baby alpaca on a lead like a dog. Of course they are doing it for the money that 'happy snappers' like me pay them for an iconic shot! I hope you also catch some of the religious parades which seems to happen daily in the centre of Cusco. It's a very colourful and vibrant city. Enjoy.