Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Lima to Cusco

Lima to Cusco was a little rough. So we forgot to pre-checkin to our flights, but arrived 1hr 20mins early. They specifically say you need to checkin one hour prior. Well, what they don’t tell you is that they oversell every flight. So if there’s 120 seats avail, they sell 130 knowing that a certain percentage will cancel or just not shows up. Well, what happens when 120 people checkin for a flight, before the 1hr checkin cutoff? You get fucked like we did. They were fairly accommodating and since they're a part of Star Alliance booked us on a LAN flight for 1:20pm instead of or 11:15am Avianca flight. They also gave us free lunch vouchers… to McDonalds. So I got a free orange juice out of it, since that’s pretty much all I can eat at McDonald’s. I tried explaining that I wasn't able to eat anything there, but they only have arrangements with McDonald’s. I asked for cash, but they declined. lol

We had some time to kill and Bill had two McDonald’s vouchers burning holes in his pocket so we hit the food area. Luckily I was able to find a rotisserie chicken place. As I opened my wallet to pay, I noticed something was gone… my debit card. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I had been warned not to bring it, and had also heard very recent horror stories about people’s accounts getting drained in Lima. I rushed to the nearest WiFi and checked my accounts… no fraud. Thank god. I msg’d Julie and had her call the bank and cancel my account and order me a new card. Phew. What happened was, I’m an idiot, and forgot to extract my card from the ATM when I used it in Lima the night before. The machines work differently in Peru and I was running on zero energy and hangry. Turisto estupido. Luckily I had a few hundred Euros stashed.

We arrived at Cusco and checked in to Hostel Frankenstein. A sweet little hostel just one block from the main plaza in Cusco. This hostel is owned by Ludwig, a quirky and eccentric German guy who’s been living here for 10 years. He runs every aspect of the place himself. Solo. The place is decorated as you would expect… weird, but awesome. Ludwig really is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with. When asked if he liked living in Cusco, his response was, “No, I’m tired of it… I’m ready to move to the amazon”. 

“Oh, to run a jungle expedition type thing?”, I inquired.

“No, to open a botanical garden and beer garden”, he replied, serious as can be. 

LOL!!! Classic.



At 11,800 feet elevation, elevation sickness is no joke. I was winded, dizzy, and a bit light headed after traversing only two flights of stairs! I didn’t think it would affect me so greatly.

After we got settled he sat us down for like half an hour and told us _everything_ we could possibly need or want to know. Very informative and worth the $10/night price of admission alone. After getting the lay of the land, Bill and I headed out to explore Cusco. We didm’t get but a block to the main square when my jaw dropped. Cusco is b e a u t i f u l. Wow. I was shocked and awed. I had no idea. Cobblestone streets, amazing architecture, and immaculately kept. Obviously we were in the Plaza de Aramas and Cusco is the jump-off point to Macu Piccu, a Wonder of the World, as well as the Sacred Valley, a wonder in it’s own right, but this was above and beyond all expectations. 






We didn't explore long. I was dizzy and legs were seriously cramping after only a few short blocks. I’m totally comfortable and used to walking the hills of San Francisco and can easily walk for miles and miles. The altitude was preventing oxygen from getting to my muscles and making them cramp. We decided to turn in and rest for our 7:45am train departure to Machu Picchu! 

No comments:

Post a Comment