Cusco
We have left the busy and noisy but well maintained city of Lima to come to Cuzco.
The view of Cusco from the plane on the way in was really amazing. The town is situated in a valley enclosed by mountains on all sides. The architecture is a mixture of Inca and Spanish. Like Ernesto Che Guevara said in his trip to Cusco when the was talking about the walls of the building "call this one the Inca wall and that one the wall of the Incapables, those were the Spanish". You can really tell the difference.
For the first time in our lives we experience the effects that altitude can cause on a person. We had to climb a few steps to get to our hostal and it was one of the hardest things we have done in a long time. We had headaches and were exhausted. It is now day 2 and I think we are way better.
We haven´t seen much of Cusco yet but we were able to obtain our tickets for the Inca Trail (one of the most famous and popular options to get to Machu Picchu). This will be a 4 day trek through the mountains to finish up at one of the 7 Wonders of the World. We feel really good about ourselves because we were able to get our trek for about 1 half of what other travellers have paid.
Last night we got a surpise email from a girls we met in our hostal in Lima. She is a fellow Couchsurfer and invited us to a Couchsurfing gathering in the city. We had a blast, meeting Couchsurfers from all over the world. We hopped from bar to bar from disco to disco. It was really a fun experience and we hope to go to more of these kind of events in the future travels.
January 16th, 2009 - 17:40
I’d be surprised if you didn’t come across more bar-hopping adventures as you make your way around. Pace yourselves and keep healthy and safe.
January 17th, 2009 - 11:37
Way to go Glogtrotters. It’s about time you met all those itinerant surfers of the couch. You guys are role-models for all of us couch potatoes. This morning I had a lovely two-block walk over to the corner store; I hope to continue these types of adventures in the near future.