Day 4: Cusco, Peru

Last night was a blast!  We all had SO much fun dancing in Miraflores.  I don´t think I´ve ever had my a$$ grabbed by so many dirty guys...LOL!  We now call the guys in Peru ¨Peruverts¨...haha!  Carolina yelled at all of them (I mean really let them have it!) every time they even came near Polly or I...they eventually got the hint and stayed away.  She (Carolina) is so funny...very assertive and demanding and stubborn...we get along great! :) 

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! 

We stopped at this one area above town, like a little lookout place, I can´t remember what it was called, but it was full of hippies drinking and smoking and playing there crazy music.  We hung out there for a little while.  I took a video clip of that, too so everyone can here the music - it was pretty cool! 

We kept walking down down down through the streets of Cusco.  Hit another local market and the only thing I´ve bought so far is a cute little sweater hand made over here out of alpaca wool for Allie.  There are lots of soccer (futbol) jerseys over here if anyone wants one...I´m totally at a loss as to what to bring back for souvenirs this trip! 

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

Day 3: Punta Hermosa, Peru

Well I´m sure none of you are going to believe this (yeah, right) but I fell asleep before everyone went out last night!  They didn´t even leave until midnight and stayed out until 4am...I think I fell asleep at like 10:30...which is actually pretty late for me!  So anyways, I missed out on the nightly activities! :(


Today was such an exciting and crazy day!! Woke up around 8:30 or so (TOTALLY been sleeping in way longer than I usually do) and went down for our "free breakfast" with Magdalena (26) from Prague, and her two friends, Carolina (24) and Augostina (23), both from Argentina.  They both speak Spanish (obviously) so they are great to have around!  Same thing for breakfast: toast and an egg, and I drank the juice again.  I´ve decided it must be fine and it always tastes SO good!!  After breakfast we changed in to swimsuits, packed a little bag, and headed for the beaches in Punta Hermosa, about an hour south of Lima.  We also picked up two other girls staying at the hostel around the corner, Polly (23) from the UK and Erin (25) from France.  (Just putting ages on there so you all know that I´m not the only crazy young girl who travels through foreign countries alone!!) 

 Okay I just have to throw this in here while I'm thinking about it...did you guys know that NO ONE freaking shaves down here!?  I mean seriously...it´s so disgusting!  Erin has more hair on her legs than any man I´ve ver seen...AND she doesn´t shave her armpits!!  UGH...SICK!!  The other girls don´t shave there legs either...and I think it´s gross if I don´t shave for like 2 days!!  Weird...  

Okay, so anyways, there are 6 of us, and we need to take a taxi down to the "bus station" to catch a bus to Punta Hermosa.  After exchanging our own currencies for Peruvian soles from some guy on the street corner (it's legi down here - that's how you do it I guess), we did some bartering (done by the Argentenian girls) and all piled in to a little taxi sitting on each others laps for the short ride down to the "bus station."  Cost us a whopping 1 soles each (3.5 soles is about $1). 

Turns out the "bus station" is on the  side of the road underneath a bridge along the highway...un-freakin-believable.  So we get down there and yes, there are buses all with one guy hanging out the side yelling out whatever place they are going to.  I can´t even describe how crazy it was!!  I mean a bus stop on a busy highway under a bridge with people yelling!?

Then one guy comes up and grabs us and says he will take us wherever we need to go...in a taxi!  WAY better than the smelly old packed-to-the-windows bus, so we agreed, for 6 soles each (the bus was only 3 soles, but come on, we´re talking about less than $2 here and it takes much less time in a taxi).  So in we pile again...Carolina and Augostina in the front seat, Erin, Magdalena, myself, and Polly sitting on each other in the back seat.  It wasn´t too hot yet and we had the windows down so it really wasn´t that bad. 

After about half an hour or so, we went through a little check-point kind of toll station thing.  And as soon as we got through it, there were cops standing all over in the middle of the highway stopping random cars for searches.  And OF COURSE the cop stands right in front of our car (as our driver is trying to get in a different lane to avoid him), sticks out both of his arms very forcefully and points to our car, and then directly to the side of the road.  LOL!!  I guess that is how they pull people over in Peru.  I´m pretty sure I would´ve just kept driving because he was on foot and there were cars everywhere but our driver reluctantly pulled over.  So I of course instantly get out my camera and start snapping pictures of the angry old cop walking up to our car.  Turns out the situation got a little more hostile - and getting pulled over in Peru isn´t quite as fun as I originally thought it was going to be!  He literally walked up to the drivers door, opened it, and yanked him out by his shirt.  Okay, kinda freaking out now, but definitly still have my camera out!  So he yells at me (no idea what he said) for taking pictures, and Carolina translates for me ¨you better put that thing away or it is going to be his¨.  So in the bag it went and the smiles quicly came off of our faces...haha.  The cop made the driver get all of his paperwork and licenses and all that stuff out, and he started yelling at him and showed him a number on the paperwork that showed how many people were allowed to be in the car legally and asked him what it said.  Driver said quatro (4) and then the cop yelled something to the effect of ¨and how many pepole are in your vehicle right now??¨  Siete (7) was his response.  So the jerk cop makes all of us girls get out of the car and stand on the side of the busy highway.  The driver is literally almost in tears now because I guess the cop threatened to take his license away and not let him drive and we were all going to be stuck on the side of the road.  NOT good.  So what do we do!?  Well we´re in Peru so we pay off the cop of course!!  And you´ll never believe this!!  Guess how much we paid him off with to let us go!?  ONE SOLES EACH!  The dude got about $2 and was happy enough to let us all pile back in the car illegally in front of him!  It was the weirdest thing ever, but whatever!!  I´ll pay that any day to avoid being either stuck on the side of a busy road or in a Peruvian jail anyday!! :)  So what a start to the day, huh!?  And what a good story...we paid off a cop in Peru to get through a checkpoint...LOL!!

So we finally get to Punta Hermosa, which turns out to be a complete shit-hole just like Lima.  Just filth and trash and dirt and stray animals everywhere (sorry Dieter...don´t hate me for trash-talking your home country!)  The driver just dropped us off on the side of the road where we couldn´t even see the ocean.  Thankfully we had Carolina with us who pretty much did all of the talking all day.  We set off on foot down some little dirt path through little shacks towards the beach ... supposedly. 

We literally walked through a landfill...seriously...and a little checkpoint with cops standing there to get to the beach.  It was worth it though!!  Beautiful beach with warm water and lots of sun! :) 

The first beach we stopped at did not have any surfboards to rent anywhere, so we walked about 15 minutes through some cliffs to get to the next beach over where there were surfers.  No one else was interested, but it was pretty much the only thing I wanted to do today, so they all went.  This beach was even better anyways!  So I rented a surfboard and paddled out FORever.  And there was only one other guy out there.  Let me remind you that I´ve never surfed before yesterday and I still have absolutely NO idea what I´m doing.  I probably paddled out WAY too far but I just went to where he was.  Ya know now that I think about it, it probably would´ve been a good move to take lessons, huh.  But that just wouldn´t be me...Miss Independent has to do it all herself...haha! ;)  So anyways, I chilled out there on the board and there were hardly any good waves (or breaks or whatever it is you surfers call them).  And I haven´t quite mastered how to get the board turned out quick enough to start paddling in with the wave, and then stand up at the right time.  It just wasn´t happening.  It´s just such a struggle...I mean surfing is a constant fight! Haha...I did manage to get up on my knees for a couple seconds, but that´s about it for today.  I had a pretty good crash (okay, let´s be honest, I had a pretty good crash every time a wave came) but the current was so strong and the waves are so powerful that the force or undercurrent pulled me under quite a ways and I hurt my back.  So that was about it for me.  I paddled and rode the board in and called it a day. 

We (the other five girls and myself) just hung out on the beach and got FRIED the rest of the day.  I´m as red as a tomato!  Even the tops of my feet...everything hurts.  I even had sunblock on, too...which is rare for me! ;)  Might be the worst sunburn I´ve ever had...wait, no, nothing will ever beat Cancun in 2006, but this has got to be a close 2nd!  The sun down here was just so powerful and we were out there ALL day.  I eventually put on my wet-suit top and board shorts because I could feel myself burning all over.  Got some great pics on the beach...it really was beautiful!  Polly and I were hungry so we ordered the only thing we could identify on the menu that wasn´t seafood - somthing that looked like french fries - for lunch.  They turned out to be big pieces of half-cooked potatoes just covered in grease, but they were edible and I was starving.  Snagged a bag of doritos for about 15 cents too...I love this place :) 

The taxi driver that dropped us off in Punta Hermosa said he would come back and pick us up at 5:30 and take us all the way back to our hostel in Miraflores (versus the ¨bus station¨ downtown) for 7 soles each.  Done deal for us.  So we hiked back up the cliffs and threw the rotten smelling landfill (seriously can´t even tell you how bad it smelled in the heat of the day...we all were gagging) and waited on the dirt road for our driver to come.  All along I thought it was crazy that he would come back and get us and risk getting in trouble again, but Carolina (the leader of the pack since she speaks the best Spanish and English) was just sure that he was going to come.  Well, at about 6:15 we had convinced her otherwise...the dude obviously was NOT coming back for us and it was getting dark.  Option B:  THE BUS!  WOW...that´s all I can even say about that experience!!  Okay not really...I´m sure I´ll write a novel about it because it was SO CRAZY!!  We crossed the road and immediately a crappy little run down bus pulled up and Carolina went to the guy hanging out the side of it yelling...it was apparently too full for her liking so despite the yelling man trying to grab her, we followed her about 5 feet to the next bus...they literally just come one after another after another.  This one wasn´t quite as full and it had a man yelling ¨Lima Lima!  Vaminos! Lima Lima!!¨ as he pounded on the side of the bus.  It honestly didn´t even look like it was going to make it to the end of the road, let alone LIMA over an hour away, but we all followed Carolina on anyways.  I sat down RIGHT by the door because I tend to get motion sickness very easy, especially on hot smelly packed buses.  Polly sat right behind me (she´s my new BFF ;) ) and the other four went to the back.  Not that it was a big bus or anything...by the back I mean like 6 feet away. 

So I´m thinking this isn´t so bad...I´ve got my window open and it isn´t packed at all...and it was only 3 soles (less than $1 to get us back to Lima)  Well that lasted about 1 minute.  We stopped about every 200 feet or so (for real) and the guy would swing open the door and hang out and yell the same thing over and over ¨Lima Lima!  Lima Lima!! Vaminos¨ as he just beat the crap out of the side of the bus (right by my head) to attract all the people to get on his bus...LOL!  I seriously think I´m going to hear that in my dreams tonight!  So this continues...for almost TWO HOURS.  All the while getting more and more packed with old smelly men getting off work and babies crying and you name it, they were on there. At one point (more than one actually) he bus was SO full that he couldn´t even shut the door...literally...he just kept pulling people on and shoving them in and he would just hang out the door.  Craziness I tell you.  The heat and smells and sounds were all just too much...talk about a sensory overload!  I eventually got out my little video camera and started recording the guy hanging out the bus yelling and banging.  I just can´t even describe it - the people all staring at me and Polly when they got on (the only two light skinned, light hair and eyes on the bus) was bad enough.  Well...it was all I could handle...and yep, I puked as soon as we stepped off the bus from hell underneath the bridge on the side of the road.  It was just too much for me...probably lack of food and water and heat exhaustion played a roll...but the smells and sound of it all was absolutely insane!!  I felt fine as soon as that was done. 

We grabbed a taxi back to our hostel and I hopped in the shower.  You know how bad it hurts to take a shower when your skin is on fire!?  Haha...it was the quickest shower I´ve ever had!!  The front of my legs and my butt are just completely fried...seriously.  The guys here at the hostel are now calling me ¨lobster¨ :)

The girls (minus Erin) and I just went out for dinner at this really cool area in Miraflores like two blocks from our hostel.  It is one road just lined with little bars and clubs and restaurants.  The people working totally gravitate towards us because they know we are tourists and practically yank us in to there restaurant.  They offered us everything from free beer and sangria to free dancing with some guy all night...haha!  We eventually found a place after Carolina´s bartering again and shared a pizza. 

The clubs looked SO fun so I think we are going out salsa dancing tonight!  I can´t wait...  I decided to just not sleep tonight because I am leaving at 3am for the airport for my 5:30 am flight to Cusco.  Thought that would be easier than trying to sleep at all.  That being said, not sure what the internet access will be like at the next place, so I may not be emailing for a few days.  (Yes mom, I will still send you a text every night to let you know I am okay!)  I have a crazy little plan that I am hoping works to get me to Maccu Piccu.  Since I am on a tight time schedule and the trains from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (access to Macchu Piccu) once a day, I am going to try to take bus (you´d think I would have learned my lesson about busses after today) from Cusco to Santa Maria, switch busses there and head to Santa Teresa, take a cable car across the river (I heard it´s totally scary!), hike for two hours to the electric plant (only thing out there I guess) and then follow the run down train tracks for another two hour hike to Aguas Calientes.  Sounds like a plan, huh!?  So that is why I´m not sure where I will be or if there will be internet access.  This trip has just been so easy-going so far that I thought it was time to throw some excitment in to the mix!! :)


Alright, that´s it for now...  I´m off to dance the night away!! 


TK