Ever Forward

I have added nearly 60 photos to the Cusco album.  These include archeological sites just outside of Cusco.  You can read the story of our visit to Cusco, if you like.

Plaza de Armas - Cusco

This is the fourth article in a series about my recent trip to Peru with Maty.  This one picks up the story in Cusco, after returning from Machu Picchu.

We woke up early, went to the pharmacy to pick up a couple things for Maty and then went to grab breakfast.  We picked a little fast-food-looking joint on the Plaza de Armas.  What I thought was a toasted ham and cheese sandwhich turned out to be more like ham & cheese on luke-warm bread.  The orange juice was actually made fresh, as is most juice here in Peru.  I’m certain you can buy processed juice, but I gather many people in Peru don’t bother, and it probably doesn’t make any sense at all outside of a major city.

Plaza de Armas - Cusco

I found a battery charger for my camera battery in the Avenida del Sol, which was a good thing.  My first battery had died back in Chosica, and my charger did too.  So I had been a little worried that I was going to expend my second battery before I could recharge the first one.  I was dubious about the new charger, but the shop owner took the time to open the charger and show me it would work.  You don’t often encounter that kind of customer service in the US, but Cuscenos have a reputation for being friendly people.

We stopped at the plaza de armas in Cusco and took some photos.  We wanted to enter the Cathedral, but it had not yet opened.  Assuming we could come back after lunch, we opted to head back to the hostal to rest for a while.  Maty still wasn’t feeling her best and I think both of us were really just worn out from all the walking we were doing.  When we returned, the cathedral had closed, and as yet I have no idea what their tourist hours are.  Never mind, we went to eat lunch, and then caught our bus for the city tours.

We had bought our tour tickets after breakfast, and at 2:00 PM were on the bus.  It started raining and even thundering as our tour began, but quit by the time we reached Sacsayhuaman (3701m).  The tour cost about 15 soles, plus entrance to the major sites.  Our tour took us to:
<> Koricancha – a church in Cusco which also is a museum.
<> Sacsayhaumán (3701m)
<> Q’enqo  (Quenco) (3952m)
<> Pucapucará (3765m)
<> Tambomachay (3,622)

I took the tour in Castellano, and thankfully, the guide spoke clearly enough that I understood the vast majority of his lectures.   Sacsayhuaman was the most interesting to me, and provided an awesome view over the city of Cusco.  Q’enco was the highest point, at nearly 12,000 feet.  The guide took us through a dark cavern there that contains a rock table that is constantly wet… and cold. Tambomachay is known as the “Incas’ Spa”.  I think our guide took another view of this, since the water there isn’t exactly warm.

After the tour we stopped off at a shop where the owners explained the differences between various materials, synthetic, 2 forms of alpaca and regular sheep’s wool.  Naturally, there is an opportunity to spend all your money on shirts and blankets, etc. made from the various materials.  There are souvenir hawks at every archeological site, and it is generally best to avoid them if you are doing the guided tour.  I actually bought a hooded pull-over made from alpaca wool.

After the tour, we headed back to Cusco, and ate dinner.  Maty and I had eaten at La Merienda on Monday, and so stuck with that restaurant during our stay.  It has only been open about four months, as of this writing, and the food was excellent.  We tried different things each time, but really got to know the menu and staff well.  The place probably holds 20-30 people and has a small bar.  We certainly hope they keep up the quality of food!

Back at the Puka Ventana, we took showers and relaxed for the night.  The Puka Ventana looks like I might have renovated it.  An electrical socket in our room was hanging out of the wall and the wardrobe door didn’t stay closed.  On the other hand, it’s fairly clean, quiet and the staff is friendly and very helpful.  Also, the hot water worked for us.  It sits overlooking the city, which means you can easily walk down the hill to the Plaza de Armas in about 5 minutes.  If you don’t feel like hiking back to the top, a taxi costs a mere 2-3 soles (or less than $1.00) from the Plaza.  Some of my photos overlooking Cusco are actually taken from the hostal.

Cusco is beautiful, and I really wish we could have stayed another day.  Adjusting to the altitude is the biggest challenge, but there is much more to do and see in Cusco than can be managed in an overnight stay.  We had to wake up early Thursday morning to catch our flight back to Lima.

This is the second of a series of posts about our recent trip to Peru.  It covers our Trip from Chosica to Ollantaytambo on Monday, September 12.

It was about 4:00 AM when my stomach woke me up, churning with a sharp pain I don’t think I’ve experienced before.  And we had a taxi to catch to get to the airport in Lima for our flight to Cusco.  Both of us hurting (Maty’s stomach had started hurting Sunday afternoon), we nevertheless readied ourselves for the taxi ride.  When the taxi arrived, Maty got the driver to stop off in Chosica at a 24-hour pharmacy, where I had to exit the taxi – I was just that sick.  Finally, we got back underway, and I began to feel a little better.

We arrived at the airport in Lima, and went through security, and settled down to wait for the flight.  We were flying with Star Peru, which was a good thing, since Peruvian Air had been grounded because of safety concerns following an accident back in the Spring.  Our flight was delayed by a half hour, due to foul conditions.  And this was after they had informed us that our original departure time of 7-something AM was delayed until 9-something.  Even so,  the flight with Star Peru was good, and as far as airlines go, I would have to give them a hand.

We finally arrived in Cusco around 11:00-ish.  When I first stepped off the plane, I immediately felt like my legs weighed an extra 50 lbs, due to the change in altitude.  Cusco sits at 3400 meters (11,200 feet) above sea level, and most people can manage well at up to 2400 m (8000 ft) without any problem.  People not used to life at high altitude probably need to adjust and should really do as little as possible for the first day.  At the very least, walk slowly and take your time. We did that part correctly, but remember… we were both still not feeling up to par from the stomach virus.

Maty and I had somehow failed to bring the contact information for the hostal (despite having everything else in order), and decided to trust a taxi driver to take us to the right place.  Bad choice.  Never trust a taxi driver in Peru.  If you are planning a trip to Peru, make sure you make arrangements with your hotel or hostal to have a taxi meet you at the airport.  And make sure you keep their contact information handy.  We were both sick, adjusting to the altitude, and the taxista had left us at about halfway down the hill from our hostal.  We finally arrived, and checked in.

We decided that, given how bad we both felt, we would just take it easy for an hour or so before trying to continue on to Ollantaytambo.  The hostal staff immediately gave us Mate de Coca, which helped tremendously.  After a nap, we found a pharmacy, where we bought meds for the stomach, and the young lady recommended a little restaurant just down the street.  After eating, we took a taxi to a bus “station”, where we caught a van going to Ollantaytambo.  There are public transit buses, much like one might encounter in Charlotte or Atlanta, but frequently, a “bus” is a minivan or “combi” – roughly equivalent to many mid-sized church vans that hold between 15-25 passengers.

Our original plan was to arrive in Cusco early, eat a light breakfast, leave a bag at the hostal and arrive in Ollantaytambo in the early afternoon.  It simply did not happen.  Between the flight delays and us feeling bad, we arrived in Ollantaytambo just as the archeological park there was closing.  We could actually see people making their way back down from the bottom.

Our decision to spend the night in Ollantaytambo was a good one, not only because we had paid for our train ticket to leave from there on Tuesday morning, but also because the lower altitude (2792 m / 9160 ft) was much more comfortable for us.  We stayed at a hostal called Marca Cocha, just a 10-minute walk from the train station, and just around the corner from the Plaza de Armas (the main square in most cities & towns).  Marca Cocha has a beautiful inner courtyard, and just ‘feels’ warm and comfortable.  Unfortunately, they don’t have a website, or I would provide a link.  Since we just sort of “showed up” (we were really looking for another hostal), I suppose you could, too.  It’s basically right around the corner from the Hostal Los Andenes.

At Marca Cocha we paid 70 soles for the night, and got dinner at the guest discount price.  Dinner was a little slow in coming, since the staff is small, but it was delicious.  I was feeling well enough to try the Lomo Saltado de Alpaca.  The room and bed were comfortable and we actually had hot water for our shower – something that is apparently a hit-or-miss proposition in Peru.  Hot running water is not the norm, and is usually only available in hotels, hostals and I saw a public shower that offered hot water.  The hostal also has internet stations that guests can use for an hour for free.  After taking advantage of that to send my Dad and brother a message, Maty and I settled in for the night.