We made it across the border to Peru!
Up at 630 to catch our flight to Cuzco after a crap night of sleep from the celebrations the night before. Thinking how small the airport was we didn’t think we would need to get there too early. Wrong. Everyone and their mother were at the airport this morning. We didn’t think we were going to make the flight and we almost didn’t. We had to run to catch the plane. If we didn’t get on this flight we weren’t getting to Machu Picchu since the border is closed via ground. The people I sat beside on the plane bought the last tickets and paid $500 each vs our $125. We checked into El Tuco Hotel, getting some clothes washed, and relaxing a bit in preparation for our big hike in a couple days. We talked to a couple at the hotel and they said it was one of the biggest efforts they’ve done. I hope they are out of shape. 26 miles in 4 days at 12k altitude- about 8 hours of hiking a day- shouldn’t be too bad.
After unloading our luggage we headed out to see the town. Someone said Cuzco is nicer than La Paz and they were right. Cuzco has less people, wider streets, nice architecture, and no one has thrown anything in my face yet. There was a parade going on (of course) so we checked it out. I’m not sure if it was a parade for Jesus or the Inca god, it can’t be for both right? I’m not sure but I saw both Jesus and the Inca god in the parade.
We walked around town for a bit, eating some street food along the way. We had pork with hot green sauce and maize (not sure if it was maize but they were huge corn kernels), and we drank some funky berry drink. The dude asked if we wanted a small and we said no. When we tasted it we understood why he thought we wanted a small. We saw checha for sale but didn’t have the guts to drink it- yet. Checha is made from women chewing on yucca root and spitting it out. The bacteria in their mouth aids in the fermentation process so it always tastes different. If it tastes bad then it’s bad luck- no shit.
We got our third parade fix and headed up a hill for a better view of the city. We stumbled upon another celebration with music and cervesas. Way better than a parade although we could still see it in the larger plaza. Andy got some cervesas and I grabbed two chairs. As I was going to sit down some ladies yelled at me for taking the chairs. Damn I wish I understood Spanish so I could argue back. Anyways, I successfully got the chairs and we enjoyed some wonderful weather and music. We sat and look over the city, watched children play and the gringos visit the area in their tour buses. I even helped some kids climb up a wall- how about that?
We made our way back to the hostal after stopping at a super market to buy so wine, real cheese, and macaroni and cheese- real American style. We’ve been jonesing for some good wine and cheese so we bought the second most expensive wine (still only $7) and blue cheese (I’m really surprised they have blue cheese here). It’s 6 and the mac and cheese is almost done. We have to go back to our room since we’re not allowed to drink in this hostal- lame. We have a full day in Cuzco tomorrow- looking forward to it!!