Getting acclimatized in Cusco, Peru

(posted by Steph)

Cusco Peru Main Square at Night

Hellloooo Cusco!!

So from Iguazu, we had a fairly long and adventurous trip to get to Cusco, Peru. We flew back to Buenos Aires where we spent the afternoon. We headed to La Boca region of the city which we missed the first time around. It´s a very cool and very colorful part of the city! We then got on an evening flight to Lima, where we arrived around 11pm. Our flight to Cusco wasn´t until 515am the next morning. The initial pan was to crash in the airport, but we were both exhausted so got suckered into paying way too much for 4 hours sleep at the Ramada hotel which was attached to the airport (Derek did negotiate the price down by over $150.......but we still paid too much). We were up at 4 and back in the airport, only to find out that our 515 flight was cancelled, and we were put on the 630 flight..... then our 630 fight was cancelled.... So we didn´t get on a flight to Cusco until about 9 (just think of the extra 4 hours sleep we could have gotten!!! ARGH!!!)

Derek at 3765 meters

Anyway, we arrived in Cusco tired and a bit annoyed, but pleasantly surprise. This is a very cool city that is nestled right in the mountains. It´s dripping in very cool history, and was so much fun to just walk around. We have been huffing and puffing a bit because the city is at over 12000 feet of altitude!

We hit the Inca Museum which brought us up to speed on all the background, and visited the Sacsaywayman ruins which are just outside the city. It was all amazing and a great first start to Cusco!

On Day 2 we decided to venture out of the city to the local town of Ollantaytambo, which also has some great ruins. It´s also one of the only remaining cities to be built on the original Inca infrastructure. Getting to this town was AWESOME! We walked to the bus station - which was basically a muddy parking lot with a little hut and a guy selling tickets for 3.50 soles (just over 1USD). With our broken Spanish and help from a very nice little lady, we got on a 2 hour bus ride thru the mountains to Urubamba. From there, we got on a little mini van (with seats for about 7 people) and they jammed 19 people in there. It was hilarious! And then, on the way, we picked up 2 more ladies with their huge bags of food! Derek and I just kept giggling about how many people we could possibly fit! Anyway, we got there in one piece. Ollantaytambo was adorable, and the ruins were absolutely amazing. We had a great personal guide that walked us through everything, even the town.  It poured all day though, and soaked us right through...but maybe this is giving us some practice for our 4 day trek that starts tomorrow.... Oh oh....

Derek infront of a mini'bus that holds 21 people

So we leave tomorrow for our trek! We packed our bags today, not bringing much. Many locals we have talked to here go on and on about how hard the trek is, so I´m getting a wee bit nervous, but there´s no turning back now!!! Wish us luck and we'll talk to yu when we get back!!

Steph helping restore the Ruins at Ollantaytambo