Bienvenido a Peru!

I’d say good morning, but in this case it’s more like “good middle of the night!”  Although it wasn’t so good… two hours of sleep and then a cab driver who I’m pretty sure was still asleep.  It was a scary ride to the airport in his death cab as he kept veering into other lanes and then swerving back into ours.  I’ve never been more excited to get out of a car.

Our flight to Lima was five hours, where we had to connect to Cusco, which was another hour in the air.  We were disappointed to see it was cloudy and raining when we touched down, but after getting settled in our hotel, the rain cleared and the sun came out!  But it’s still much colder here than it was in Brazil, so we swapped our sundresses and bikinis for jeans, long sleeves and jackets.  We are staying at an adorable bed and breakfast and we have the suite lined with windows giving us a fabulous view of Cusco and the surrounding mountains.

We are at 11,500 feet elevation in Cusco.  Altitude sickness can be a huge issue for many people, but so far Brittany and I feel fine.  We did drink a cup or two of the coca tea to get ahead of any altitude sickness before we headed off to wander around town.  Our first stop was Plaza de Armas, a beautiful square that has been the long reigning heart of Cusco and home to the Catedral and the Templo de La Compañia.  The Spanish-colonial architecture, terra-cotta roofs and cobblestone streets are the backbone of this city.  The Andean influences are very present in the people, their clothing and the culture.  We are already in love with Cusco.  They also drive really fast here for the small narrow streets and the hordes of pedestrians.  Guess I would fit in perfectly.

We had to check in for the Inca Trail hike and pay the remaining balance.  This required no less than five trips to the same ATM within the same hour to get money.  I’m sure the bank security team found this entertaining… they need to increase their maximum withdrawal amounts here, lol.  The woman we met with at the Peru Treks office was very nice and accommodating.  She walked us through the entire four day hike and answered our questions.  I’m not sure I liked her answer when I asked if we’re going to see snakes and whether or not they can come into our tent.  Whose idea was it to do this hike anyway??  Just kidding… meeting with her made us really excited and even if I decide I’m never camping again, I think this four day hike will be “life-changing”.

We headed to an early dinner at Marcelo Batata and had the upstairs terrace with fantastic views of the city all to ourselves.  This restaurant is known for having some of the best Alpaca steaks in town… so we decided we had to try it.  It was pretty good actually, tasting like a combination of steak and lamb.  We had our first official Peruvian Pisco Sours and watched Cusco light up as night fell on the Sacred Valley.

At dinner, both of us had minor headaches and we weren’t sure if it was from the altitude or from exhaustion.  We decided to head home and go to bed early.  Much more to see and explore tomorrow.  Buenos Noches!!

This blog entry was originally posted on www.MayerTwinsTravel.blogspot.com