Meeting Our Peruvian Family - Yes or Yes?

After only one proper day in Lima, the five travellers repacked their bags and were off to the airport again this time to fly to Cuzco to start their Incan journey. Of course, there were more transportation complications when their pre-booked van taxi went ‘missing’.  Sometimes knowing Spanish would be nice!  Aka when you want to ask what it means when a van goes missing. So instead they were driven to the airport by the taxi driver and his friend in their personal cars. The plane ride to Cuzco left on time and was uneventful, except for the sheer beauty of the Andes which could only be seen from the left side of the plane (fortunately, the side they were all sitting on).  Ash imagined walking off the plane and gasping for breath with the altitude change but it wasn’t quite so dramatic. However later that day, keeping up with a taller person pace, very slightly uphill, and then climbing two sets of stairs resulted in Ash nearly puking.  She went to bed that night with a throbbing headache but didn’t worry about cerebral edema so much as just getting to sleep. 

Where they stayed:  The Prisma Hotel, a large hotel situated 15 minutes walking from the main square (and 10 minutes from an equally main looking other square).  There they learned that the G Adventure booking had mixed up their rooms so that Alice was put with a random and JD had his own room.  At least the rooms were clean and there was hot water and coca tea waiting for them at check-in. But the best part of the hotel was finding Jenna napping!  She made it to Cuzco in one albeit nauseous piece after two very bumpy connecting flights. 

What they ate and drank: This first day at high altitude they drank coca tea, coca tea and more coca tea, swearing off drinking pisco sours until the end of their trip.  Ash and Jenna tried a hole-in-the-wall restaurant which served “delicious soup”, and later that night they all tried a bite of Alice’s alpaca and Jenna’s lomo saltado. Alice’s alpaca, to quote Jenna, tasted “a little gamey and cute” while Jenna’s lomo saltado was just plain delicious. So much so that the leftovers were taken by a young Peruvian boy on the walk back to the hotel. Britt barely took any photos that day and most of them were still of coca tea and food!

What they did:  They became acquainted with the districts of Cuzco – the mattress district, the eyeglass district, the party store district, the creepy child’s wear district...  All these districts and yet not a single place for JD to go T-shirt shopping. All JD found were alpaca wool items and overpriced jewelry, but the hunt for the perfect shirt will continue.  Alice and Lara both made the most of their day in Cuzco by running all over the city – altitude sickness – not an issue for these two ladies.  After getting lost they found themselves in a local’s market full of mystery, open-air meats.  Later that afternoon, they met up with the rest of the G Adventure group, though Jenna, JD, Ash and Britt were late meeting the group as they were too busy taking photos with the finger puppets to realize the time.  The finger puppets were self-conscious and didn’t make an appearance at the meet and greet – those delinquents! – so whether or not the group thinks that they’re crazy or creative remains to be seen.  Everyone in the group seemed nice and a bit terrified by the trek.  Their guide, David, held his arm at a 90 degree angle for most of the prep-talk indicating what they could expect for the next few days… but softened the blow by calling everyone part of his family.  You wouldn’t let a member of your family fall of a cliff, would you? Yes or yes? Yikes.  That night Jenna, Lara, and Alice practiced packing all their life belongings into 6 kg bags. A difficult task when more than half the weight is taken up by camping mat and sleeping bag…figuring out the perfect combination of important (Warm! Waterproof!) things to bring…will they underpack?

Lessons learned:  Don’t go to the local meat market.  Don’t look at Alice and Lara’s photos of the local meat market.  In Peru, it is possible to get prescription sunglasses made in an hour – take note Optometrists of the world!

Most embarrassing moment:  Finding out that you are the only three people in a group of 15 who are taking the train option up to Machu Picchu.  

Some questions:

Will Alice blow her budget at the women’s weaving co-op?

Will Ashley break an ankle climbing her first archaeological sites?

Will Britt continue to be able to resist the fresh salads that are placed in front of them?

Will JD and Bruce the Alpaca become friends?

Will Lara ever eat meat again?

Will Jenna make it through the bumpy bus rides with only one dose of Gravol?

Stay tuned!