January 10
We are in the departure area at the Cusco airport waiting for our flight back to Lima. We have had a great three days here in Peru.
We left Orlando, Florida Thursday on a night flight and arrived in Lima early Friday morning, very tired. I made the mistake of declaring Katie’s portable DVD player at customs on arrival and we had to pay a $60 duty, and it took an extra 45 minutes to get through. The customs officials, who were courteous, promised we would get our money back when we leave the country. I smiled and nodded, but didn’t believe it.
Cheryl arranged our next flight (from Lima to Cusco) after we purchased our original round-the-world tickets. The reason we didn’t buy them in the beginning was because we assumed that Peru was a small country and Cusco couldn’t be more than a couple hours away by bus. We were wrong. It turns out that Cusco is something like a 15 hour bus ride from Lima - or just one hour by plane. For these tickets, part of this deal was that a representative of the travel agency would be there in Lima to meet us, and he was. After customs, we saw him holding the ubiquitous white sign with our name on it. The rep’s name was Booboo (as in Yogi’s friend) and he spoke good English. Booboo had our Cusco tickets, was very helpful in getting us to our flight, and he gave us tips on what to look out for, dangers, scams, etc.
Our flight to Cusco was uneventful. We arrived in the late morning and were met by another representative of the travel agency, a guy named Martin (“Mar-teen”). Martin didn’t speak a lot of English, but was very helpful and had a big smile. At the airport Martin was among the crowd of people waiting for arriving flights. He held a sign just like Booboo in Lima. I must say I have a different opinion about those signs. We see them all the time at the Kona airport and I have found them rather amusing. But seeing them here in this strange and foreign place with our own name on them, they are a welcome sight.
Martin got us to our accommodations in Cusco, a modest hotel one step up from a youth hostel. It was called Los Aticos. Cheryl really came through on this place – we had a small apartment with a kitchen – and it was perfect for the four of us. The first order of business on arrival at the hotel, even before checking in, was to have some coca tea (or mate do coca, as it is called in Spanish). Because Cusco is 11,500 feet in elevation, many visitors get altitude sickness and most have a headache for the first day or two. Coca tea is supposed to help alleviate this. Martin, who does not work for the hotel, came in with us, found the common kitchen area (and the tea) and served it up. So, we had our first mate de coca. And it tasted okay – similar to green tea from Japan. We drank it every day of our visit.
After a three hour nap, it was late afternoon and we decided to explore the town of Cusco. Armed with a map provided by the hotel and the latest Fodor’s Peru, we set out for the nearby Plaza de Armas, a square with a park in the middle flanked by two large Catholic churches. It was sunny and were glad to be there, but still tired and feeling the altitude.
There are tons of shops and restaurants in Cusco catering to tourists. The retail stores and street vendors offer a colorful array of Peruvian handicrafts such as sweaters and blankets made from alpaca wool, and little knick-knacks like wood and stone llamas, but also other items such as hiking supplies. After a couple hours we were all getting hungry so we decided to try out one of the restaurants for dinner. We noticed that Peruvians are really into pizza as there is a pizza restaurant on every corner. Actually, we couldn’t figure out if the locals got into pizza on their own or they are catering to the tourists. We had the guidebook with us, but instead decided to wing it and ended up in an Italian restaurant where Cheryl ordered a pasta dish, the girls had Hawaiian pizza (with ham and pineapple) and I ordered a sort of Peruvian stir-fry. So much for jumping into the culture. Nonetheless, it was a tasty meal; we stuffed ourselves, and came to around $20 with wine. And best of all none of us got sick, though I did get headache from the altitude, dry climate, and wine. Cheryl and both had some trouble sleeping that night.
Despite the orientation toward tourism, Cusco has a lot of appeal and we found it to be a charming city. The architecture is a mix of old Spanish colonial structures and more contemporary concrete block buildings, with residential homes outside the city center made of mud block. It has run-down European feel, especially in the downtown area. As far as communications, you don’t really need to speak Spanish, but it helps. I brushed up on my Spanish from high school and it made interactions a lot smoother. Hand signals and our phrasebook came in handy also. Perhaps most importantly, the Peruvians are a friendly people who want to communicate.
The next day was the reason we came here in the first place. We went to the famous Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. We got up at 4:30 in the morning to catch the 6:00 train. Martin got us to the station where we boarded the Vistadome. It turns out that there are several levels of train you can take to Machu Picchu. From cheap to expensive, they are 1) the chicken train, 2) the backpacker train, 3) the Vistadome, and 4) the Hiram Bingham. We were surprise to learn that it takes three and a half hours to get there from Cusco, and that is just to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. After the train there is another 25 minutes on a bus up a winding road to the ruins themselves. It was interesting to learn that Machu Picchu is lower in elevation than Cusco at 8000 feet.
The train and bus rides were well worth it. Machu Picchu was fantastic. We were warned that it might be cloudy and rainy at the ruins, but it was a beautiful day in the low 70’s. We paid in advance for an English language tour and our guide was a guy named Beto (pronounced “bay-tow”). He was very knowledgeable, though a bit long winded. He loved talking about Machu Picchu. During our two-and-a-half hour walking tour he mentioned that he wrote a book on Incan spirituality. Cheryl and I took a lot of pictures. We couldn’t help it, because it was so amazing to even be there.
The highlights of the day for the girls were the llamas and the chinchillas. Probably for the tourist, they had 10 or 20 llamas grazing in the plaza area of the ruins. As soon as we saw them the girls were transfixed. As we moved through the tour, they looked to see if we were any closer to the llamas. Then, near the end of the tour, Beto pointed out a wild chinchilla poking his head out from a rock above our heads and to one side. Once again, the girls were transfixed. As they inched their way closer to the little fellow, another chinchilla poked its head out. The girls were beside themselves at that point. We took more pictures.
After lunch, the crowds thinned and we let the girls walk around on their own among the ruins. I wanted to hike to the high point with our little stuffed friend Pueo and get some pictures. And Cheryl wanted to just wander around. So, we agreed to all meet back at one of the upper temple areas. The girls met us there on time and at around 4:00pm and we headed back for the next bus down the hill. The sun was in and out of the clouds all day and we made the mistake of not putting on sun block. By the time we got to the bus we could feel it.
I mentioned that the road between Aguas Calientes and the ruins is winding. The ruins are 8000 feet in elevation and the town is at about 7000 feet. The mountain is very steep, but the road is not steep because there are about twenty switchbacks between top and bottom. There is also a set of stairs running straight up the mountain that cross the road at each flat section. The stairs act as a short-cut for those who want to hike up to the ruins or down. After we left the top, a local boy, perhaps 10 years old, raced our bus on foot down the mountain using those stairs and beat us to the bottom. We understood what he was doing after the first two or three times. He called and waved at each flat section all the way down the hill. It was quite entertaining as we looked for him after each turn. At the bottom, we thought that was the end of it, but the driver stopped and let the boy on the bus. The driver closed the door and continued toward town while the boy walked up the aisle with his hat out. I was a little surprised, but Cheryl thought it was great and gave him a couple soles (1 sole = 30 cents).
We stayed in Aguas Calientes that night. This town is about 400 feet long along a river and along the train tracks that are its primary connection to the outside world. The town owes its existence to its proximity to Machu Picchu, and has small collection of hotels, youth hostels, restaurants and shops. Dramatic peaks rise on all sides and it is a scenic place. We stayed at the Pueblo Hotel. It is an upscale place owned by an international eco-tourism hotel chain. We are trying to avoid pricey hotels on this trip, but Cheryl made reservations ahead and got a good rate. Unfortunately, when we arrived for check-in, they said they couldn’t give us the rate originally quoted. Cheryl pulled out the paperwork, but they said they sent an email several days prior stating they could not honor the lower rate. We had not gotten any email since Orlando, and they were not budging. We sat there for several minutes not knowing what to do. We were tired, having gotten up at 4:30 that morning. And were not eager to go walking around town looking for another place. So, we decided to stay at the Pueblo anyway and take it up with the parent company later. We ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed.
I should mention that we discovered that evening the national drink of Peru. It is call Pisco Sour and it tastes something like a margarita and has foam on top made from egg whites. Cheryl and I fell in love with this drink and resolved to try the national drink of every country we visit. By the time we left Peru, we tried Pisco Sour at three places. We were only sorry we had not learned about it earlier.
The next morning we slept in. Since our return train to Cusco didn’t leave until 3:00pm, we decided to just relax and looked around the town. We were tired from our day at the ruins and we were feeling our sunburns. Actually, the girls were fine, but I could feel it and Cheryl didn’t look so good. It rained most of the day and at some points it poured. We felt a little bad for the tourist visiting the ruins that day as we had beautiful weather the day before.
Our return trip to Cusco was uneventful for the first two hours, but got interesting as our young male and female Perurail ticket takers put on a fashion show for us on the train car. The lavatory at the back of the train was the changing room and the aisle was the runway. With music blaring through the PA system, they put on a 20 minute fashion show featuring various local wool garments. When they were done they piled all the clothes on a cart moved down the aisle. And they actually made a few sales. The Peruvians are quite an enterprising bunch.
We got back to Cusco after dark and Martin was there once again to get us back to the hotel. It was 8:00pm and time to pack up because we were leaving early the next day. So, we started sorting through our clothes, and then realized that we had not eaten dinner. Lauren had seen a Chinese restaurant less than a block away. So, I walked there, ordered food and they delivered it to the hotel twenty minutes later. Another thing we learned that day was Chinese food in Peru tastes exactly the same as it does in the United States, and costs less.
We got up at 4:30 the next morning for our flight back to Lima and connection to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Remember the $60 duty I paid for Katie’s DVD player? It took over an hour at customs in Lima, but I got it back, but that is another story.
I am finishing this in Rio, already on the next step of our adventure.