Not Now, I've Got a Headache (in Cusco)!!
29 Nov-3 Dec, Cusco, Peru
Being at such a high altitude (3326m) here in Cusco is kicking my ass!! I seriously am surprised by how badly my body has been affected. I've had splitting headaches that made me long for general anesthesia, minor dehydration leaving me with split chapped lips, and an overall feeling of fatigue which made me wonder if someone had slipped an accelerated aging pill into my drink! Yuck! Luckily by day 4 I'm almost back to normal which is absolutely imperative as I'm due to start a five-day trek tomorrow morning which will have me hiking up to an elevation of 4600m. Gulp.
Shall I give you a run down on my time in Cusco? Why yes, I shall!
After a rather chaotic and nerve-wracking time spent at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, I arrived in Cusco via Peruvian Airlines at 1:30 PM on Nov 29 and was picked up by my hostel as I'd previously arranged. My first 3 nights were spent at the Hospedaje Intikahuarina in a single room (54 soles). It was a decent enough place but hardly dirt cheap so I moved to a dorm room at the Pirwa Hostel in the lovely San Blas neighborhood of Cusco for the last 2 nights which only cost me
20 soles (Plus 3 cats live here and have been spending quality time in my lap!).
A word or two of comparison is necessary regarding Cusco. I first visited this city back in 2003 when I hiked the Inca Trail and now, 8 years later, the town seems even more geared towards tourism. There is a more noticeable presence of police throughout the city centre,
especially in the Plaza de Armas. I even spotted a copper riding one of those Segway Security Scooters. Not that I am complaining about the increased security. Hell to the no sayeth my wallet and camera! It's just that now the city seems a little too touristic with its high-priced boutiques littering the lanes and overall prices which seek to burst my budgetary bubble. Oh, and everyone seems to possess a mobile these days EXCEPT for the traditionally dressed Andean ladies with their toddlers and baby alpacas in tow. Still, despite it's heavily touristic leanings, I still kind of adore Cusco.
"Bravo!" goes out to the Cusco South American Explorers Clubhouse, run by a gregarious, efficient and incredibly helpful gal named Elizabeth. Of the 3 Clubhouses I've visited in South America so far, this one was by far the BEST! from it's knowledgeable staff and lending movie/book library down to their "red phone" which is a direct line to President Obama. Okay okay, so the phone isn't actually red nor does it allow one the privilege to speak to the studly American Commander in Chief BUT they do have a phone which allows members to make free calls to the US or Canada. To sum up then...this Clubhouse ROCKS!! And I am now the owner of my very own Cusco Clubhouse t-shirt which I will wear proudly (and often seeing that the clothes in my backpack must bear repeated use for another 279 days).
Over the past few days, I've toured a number of Inca sites- the sprawling ruins above the market town of Pisac, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman" ha ha), Q'enqo (another site fixated on bloody sacrificial rites), and the round terraces of Moray. Of the four, I preferred Pisac due to its sheer size and its location hanging high above the town. It's a bitch of a climb up to the site, so I opted to be lazy and hailed a taxi (20 soles). However, before you start thinking I'm a complete wuss, I did hike the 4 kilometers down which made my knees snap, crackle, and POP painfully with each descending step.
Another notable site I visited was Salineras, i.e. salt flats near the village of Maras. Essentially the salt flows out of a mountain via hot mineral springs and the villagers sell the salt to many countries around the world. When I first cast my eyes on the rows upon rows of salt beds, I instantly thought of the sparkling white terraces of Pamukkale, Turkey. Only Salineras was more impressive due to the fact that it lies in a valley with views of the nearby majestic Andes!
One final monumental site worth mentioning is the intimidating grandeur of la catedral, Cusco's main cathedral which takes up practically one whole block of the Plaza de Armas. I'd visited it back in 2003 but it still made my eyes "pop" and I'm sure I said "WOW" out loud. I even staggered a little, losing my footing since my eyes were fixated on the incredible vaulted ceiling so I wasn't watching where I stepped. Apparently it took over 100 years to build and has withstood sizeable earthquakes (unlike many other colonial buildings both in Cusco and in Lima).
Well tomorrow morning at 6:00 I'm off for my trek and all I can say about that is...HOLD BACK THE RAIN...please.
Being at such a high altitude (3326m) here in Cusco is kicking my ass!! I seriously am surprised by how badly my body has been affected. I've had splitting headaches that made me long for general anesthesia, minor dehydration leaving me with split chapped lips, and an overall feeling of fatigue which made me wonder if someone had slipped an accelerated aging pill into my drink! Yuck! Luckily by day 4 I'm almost back to normal which is absolutely imperative as I'm due to start a five-day trek tomorrow morning which will have me hiking up to an elevation of 4600m. Gulp.
Shall I give you a run down on my time in Cusco? Why yes, I shall!
After a rather chaotic and nerve-wracking time spent at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, I arrived in Cusco via Peruvian Airlines at 1:30 PM on Nov 29 and was picked up by my hostel as I'd previously arranged. My first 3 nights were spent at the Hospedaje Intikahuarina in a single room (54 soles). It was a decent enough place but hardly dirt cheap so I moved to a dorm room at the Pirwa Hostel in the lovely San Blas neighborhood of Cusco for the last 2 nights which only cost me
20 soles (Plus 3 cats live here and have been spending quality time in my lap!).
A word or two of comparison is necessary regarding Cusco. I first visited this city back in 2003 when I hiked the Inca Trail and now, 8 years later, the town seems even more geared towards tourism. There is a more noticeable presence of police throughout the city centre,
especially in the Plaza de Armas. I even spotted a copper riding one of those Segway Security Scooters. Not that I am complaining about the increased security. Hell to the no sayeth my wallet and camera! It's just that now the city seems a little too touristic with its high-priced boutiques littering the lanes and overall prices which seek to burst my budgetary bubble. Oh, and everyone seems to possess a mobile these days EXCEPT for the traditionally dressed Andean ladies with their toddlers and baby alpacas in tow. Still, despite it's heavily touristic leanings, I still kind of adore Cusco.
"Bravo!" goes out to the Cusco South American Explorers Clubhouse, run by a gregarious, efficient and incredibly helpful gal named Elizabeth. Of the 3 Clubhouses I've visited in South America so far, this one was by far the BEST! from it's knowledgeable staff and lending movie/book library down to their "red phone" which is a direct line to President Obama. Okay okay, so the phone isn't actually red nor does it allow one the privilege to speak to the studly American Commander in Chief BUT they do have a phone which allows members to make free calls to the US or Canada. To sum up then...this Clubhouse ROCKS!! And I am now the owner of my very own Cusco Clubhouse t-shirt which I will wear proudly (and often seeing that the clothes in my backpack must bear repeated use for another 279 days).
Over the past few days, I've toured a number of Inca sites- the sprawling ruins above the market town of Pisac, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman" ha ha), Q'enqo (another site fixated on bloody sacrificial rites), and the round terraces of Moray. Of the four, I preferred Pisac due to its sheer size and its location hanging high above the town. It's a bitch of a climb up to the site, so I opted to be lazy and hailed a taxi (20 soles). However, before you start thinking I'm a complete wuss, I did hike the 4 kilometers down which made my knees snap, crackle, and POP painfully with each descending step.
Another notable site I visited was Salineras, i.e. salt flats near the village of Maras. Essentially the salt flows out of a mountain via hot mineral springs and the villagers sell the salt to many countries around the world. When I first cast my eyes on the rows upon rows of salt beds, I instantly thought of the sparkling white terraces of Pamukkale, Turkey. Only Salineras was more impressive due to the fact that it lies in a valley with views of the nearby majestic Andes!
One final monumental site worth mentioning is the intimidating grandeur of la catedral, Cusco's main cathedral which takes up practically one whole block of the Plaza de Armas. I'd visited it back in 2003 but it still made my eyes "pop" and I'm sure I said "WOW" out loud. I even staggered a little, losing my footing since my eyes were fixated on the incredible vaulted ceiling so I wasn't watching where I stepped. Apparently it took over 100 years to build and has withstood sizeable earthquakes (unlike many other colonial buildings both in Cusco and in Lima).
Well tomorrow morning at 6:00 I'm off for my trek and all I can say about that is...HOLD BACK THE RAIN...please.
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