Mucho Gusto, Cuzco!

View of the Andes from the plane

After getting over the shock that hot water actually came out of the tap, (what a novel idea!), I spent what felt like hours trying to wash off the grime that bucket showers inevitably leave behind. Oh, how I miss hot showers!! The next morning, after only a couple of hours of sleep at the Flying Dog Hostel, we headed to the airport for our flight to Cuzco. After checking our bags, we had time to spare before boarding for breakfast and a chai latte. As we were eating, we heard an announcement in Spanish that sounded vaguely like our last names, but with still half hour before our boarding time, we weren’t overly concerned. We decided to head down to the gate anyway to make sure all was well. Enter transportation stress situation #1. As we lined up, we were practically pulled out of line by an exasperated Star Peru employee. “You’re the last ones! Please hurry!” she screamed. Much to everyone in the line's dismay, she shepherded us to the front of a very long security line and rushed us on through. “Please HURRY!” she pleaded. Pretty much running like our life depended on it, we managed to make it onto our plane in the nick of time. Thank you, Random Star Peru Employee, for managing to track down us crazy brown folk and make sure we made our flight! <3

Our flight to Cuzco was short with absolutely stunning scenery. Flying over the Andes was breathtaking and allowed me a moment to really take in the beauty of what I was doing. As we drove through the streets of Cuzco, I was in absolute awe at the sights and sounds. Worlds apart from both Lima and Talara, I realized how blessed I am to be able to experience yet another unique area of Peru.

Our hostel, Loki, is located at the top of a beautiful, steep, cobblestone road with stairs that look like they were built for giants! It’s on a incline that would normally be relatively manageable at sea level, but at 11152 ft (3399 m) above sea level here in Cuzco, it makes us huff and puff more than the big bad wolf himself. It’s actually pretty hilarious to watch all of the foreigners walk up the stairs. Splotchy cheeks, face down, focusing on taking one step at a time, and not saying a word for fear of expending the last bit of energy they have left.

The road leading up to our hostel

After dropping our bags off at Loki, we headed to the main square, or the Plaza de Armas, where we were quite lucky  to stumble upon a market that takes place only once per year on Christmas Eve. The air was heavily fragranced with the smell of incense and jam packed with vendors hawking everything from alpaca hats to Spanish moss and accessories for nativity scenes. Curiously, there were a lot of stalls selling tiny doll clothes and shoes that seemed to be all the rage. I would later realize that this doll paraphernalia was used to accessorize the Baby Jesus dolls that everyone, man, woman and child, would carry around with them in a small cradle on Christmas Day. Although it began to rain heavily, my Dad and I were well prepared and waterproofed down to our toes! We wouldn’t let a little a rain dampen our spirits. Although we were protected from both the rain and the cold, nothing in our North American arsenal had prepared us for altitude sickness, who decided to rear its ugly head on our first day...