So anyways, we danced (together mostly...just us girls) until around 2:30 and then I had to leave to get back to the hostel to grab my bags and head for the airport. My flight was at 5:30 and the guys working at the hostel assured me I HAD to be at the airport TWO hours in advance. So whatever, I put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt and headed down the stairs...and lucky me!! As soon as I put one foot ont he street a taxi driver stopped right in front of me and said ¨aeropuerto?¨ Haha...yep...so I hopped in. Nice enough guy I guess...probably should have been a little more weary getting in to a cab alone at 3am but it all worked out :) He didn´t speak english but I figured out he asked me if my flight was domestic or international and I sad domestico to Cusco and he figured it out and got me to the right place. NOT to my surprise, the airport was dead and it literally took me about 15 minutes to get compeltely checked in, through security, and sitting at my gate. NOT happy!! I had to sit there and wait for like an hour and 45 minutes when I could have been sleeping (or dancing)! That is the LAST time I listen to locals about airports. I´m pretty sure I´ve mastered all foreign airports by now and can get from the front door to my gate in 30 minutes no matter what...haha ;)
We boarded the plane and had a nice hour long flight to Cusco. We flew by Macchu Picchu but it was really cloudy out and I couldn´t get a good picture of it. I did get some good pictures of the huge mountains here! They are so much bigger and different than the mountains I´ve seen in the US. So sharp and jagged edges pointing out of the clouds. Very beautiful!
Flying over Cusco was really pretty, too. It´s such a cute little town nestled in the mountains and I got some good pictures of the whole town!
The airport was VERY small and didn't even really look like an airport.
I took a video clip of the locals playing Peruvian music around the baggage claim at the airport...they were really good and were dressed up in all the traditional stuff. Here is the link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-P2zw_vFHk
I am staying at the Flying Dog hostel here in Cusco (same one as in Lima) so I arranged through them to pick me up at the aiport and take me to the hostel here. SO much easier than bartering with a taxi driver and trying to find one who even knows where you want to go. So I grabbed my bags and walked outside to the arrival area where everyone holds signs with names on them. I didn´t see mine...of course. I walked back and forth and back and forth getting madder by the minute. At least it was early morning and not late at night, so I wasn´t scared or anything, just irritated that I thought I had it all arranged and no one was there. I didn´t even write down the address or phone number of the hostel here in Cusco so I was really SOL. I noticed these two older girls (40´s I´d guess) speaking English so I went over and started talking to them. I have no problem talking to and making friends with anyone. :) They convinced me that I should wait for there free shuttle to there hotel and go with them because it wasn´t safe for me to get in a taxi alone (women are so paranoid!!). I agreed to wait, because I didn´t really want to barter for a taxi and I didn´t have the address anyways. They also almost had me convinced that I needed to take some of there high altitude sickness pills. Cusco is at almost 12,000 feet and most people get sick when they arrive here I guess. I decided againt it and so far so good! :) Just when there shuttle was pulling up, some sleepy looking guy (it was about 6:30am) walked up the the gates holding a little piece of paper that said ¨Perry Keeler¨ in light blue marker that you almost couldn´t even read. I figured it was me and waved to him and walked around the gates where he met me. Of course he started talking to me in Spanish. I am really getting pretty good at the whole ¨No entiendo. No hablo espanol¨phrase. I put my bags in the back seat and locked the door, and then sat in the front seat and locked that door as well. SEE - I AM being safe! I heard from numerous people that when you are stuck in traffic people will come up to the taxi and open the door and just yank your stuff out and run. There was lots of traffic this morning on the main roads - lots of people trying to get to the market or work and kids off to school I guess. I took some pictures on the drive through the windy cobble stone streets.
We arrived at my hostel about 15 minutes later. Luiggi (a guy who works here at the hostel) opened the door, checked me in, and told me I was ¨blah blah blah muy bonita!¨ Haha...I literally laughed out loud at him! I haven´t washed my hair since I left KC Sunday morning, have had one shower, am sunburnt as all get out, and don´t have any make up on. LOL...he´s a keeper huh!? So he showed me around the hostel and to my room and I was so tired and worn out I just crashed (after checking email really quick of course). I have a little room (top bunk this time) with three other girls who I haven´t met yet.
After sleeping for a couple of hours, I came back down stairs and Luiggi was sitting here waiting on me. He offered to take me out and show me around Cusco for the day - a free private tour - why would I pass that up!? I made it very clear up front that I had a boyfriend so he didn´t expect anything...you never know about some of these peruverts! ;) He comes up to about my shoulders, has black hair as long and almost as curly as mine, and is from the jungle (seriously!). He seemed like a cool enough guy, always singing and tapping his foot and always smiling. So anyways, we set out on foot through the city. We stopped for lunch at one of his favorite restaurants and for 6 soles each (less than $2) we had an appetizer that was some green potato I think covered in the worst green sauce I´ve ever had, some pasta and vegetable soup, and chicken, rice and french fries! Crazy how cheap everything is down here! When we went down to pay the lady gave each of us a cup of juice and I said huh-uh! She pushed it to me again and said something ¨fruit natural¨ like it was okay to drink and Luiggi drank it so I did to. I have no idea what it was, but it was really good...and I haven´t gotten sick yet...I´m just a little weary about fruits in foreign countries.
After lunch we kept walking...I bet we walked 15 miles today at least. We hit all the shops and markets and churches and museums. You name it, if it´s in Cusco, I´m pretty sure I saw it today.
SOMEHOW he convinced me to get on another one of these stinkin´busses that made me puke last night. You´d think I would´ve learned my lesson, but I got on again. Belive it or not, this bus was MORE crowded and probably MORE hot than the one last night. Standing room only when we got on, and I am so tall I don´t even fit on the bus! Haha...I had to hunch over and still turn my head to the side to even stand there!! LOL...everyone else, Luiggi included, fit just fine. I had him take a picture this time...it´s hilarious!! I love feeling tall down here! :)
So for uno soles we stood on a rickety old smelly bus for 20 minutes up the hill to Cristo Blanco, this area that overlooks the whole city of Cusco and has a big statue of Jesus. Peru is a very Christian country...or at least all of the churches and pictures of Jesus and cross statues would lead you to believe so anyways. We walked around to some ancient ruins up here too, and there are 'alpaca' everywhere - like goats kind of?? I don't know what they are, but they use there fur to make warm clothes. After walking around up there for awhile and taking some pictures, we headed back down the hill for Cusco...on foot...no way was I getting on another one of those busses ever again...seriously. It was a long walk down but we took some breaks and walked through all of the little winding roads again...so beautiful!
It eventually started raining here - like it doesn almost every afternoon - so Luiggi and I stopped for some ice cream (best banana split I think I´ve ever had).
It (the rain) finally let up a little so we decided to head back to the hostel. I´ve had on flip flops all day...probably not the best for hiking and all of the walking we did...and definitly not good for these little slick streets when they are wet! The water was rushing down the streets and as we were crossing one a bus came by and yep...totally soaked us. Luiggi tried to jump back and pull me with him but it was too late. Just drenched and SO cold. My one pair of jeans and my one long sleeve t-shirt are wet and I´m freezing! I guess I didn´t really plan too well when I decided to come to a little town in the mountains! We stopped at a little shop and I bought a cute beanie that says Cusco on it for 10 soles...probably got ripped off but I was so cold and didn´t want to get sick with my wet hair. So anyways, we made it back...soaking wet and cold and hungry...but it really was a great day!
It´s about 7pm and I am thinking about going to to a local club here for awhile with a cool girl I met from Denmark. Luiggi and his friend and I are going to leave tonight (his friend gets off work at 11pm) for a bus to Santa Maria, then Santa Teresa, then on for hiking to Macchu Picchu in the morning, and catching the train back to Cusco so I can catch my flight tomorrow night to Rio!! SO can´t wait for Brazil!!
Probably won´t be able to email tomorrow...not sure. I´ll write more when I can! Wish me luck!! ;)
-TK
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