Cusco, Peru – July 19th – 20th, 2017

After spending 21 hours in the bus, we finally arrived in Cusco in the late morning. Tired and stinky, we walked ourselves to the guesthouse, where we were able to check in so Andy could rest – he was feeling quite crappy, with similar yet milder, symptoms to what I had been experiencing for the last week (oh how the tables had turned). While Andy slept, Matt and I went out to grab lunch and explore the city. Poor Matt had been with us for almost a week and the entire time either me or Andy was in bed sick (I say “poor Matt” but really, it’s poor us – let me tell you: being stomach sick on a bus is not only horrific, but severely anxiety inducing since any gastro-relief is guaranteed to be epically public).

The drive to Cusco including tourist phone obsession at dinner and my artistic rendition of the earthquake and landslides that forced our 21-hour windy re-route through Cusco.

Andy and I had visited Cusco before hiking the Inca Trail in 2013. It was astounding how much the city had grown and changed in 4-years! Not only was it more crowded with tourists, but chain restaurants and fast-food joints had popped up everywhere! The square was essentially unrecognizable. Yes, sure, the city appeared cleaner and more-wealthy, but much of the local charm had been replaced by tourism… bummer, but we still loved the city. So much beauty and history… not to mention the city is surrounded by incredible ruins and the stunning Sacred Valley. Back at the guesthouse, we stirred Andy, who grunted and re-positioned himself in the fetal position. Marking him for a lost cause, Matt and I brought the laundry for an overdue wash and worked with the guesthouse owner to arrange for a taxi to bring us to some lesser known ruins the next day. That evening, Matt and I went out to eat again. Even though I had previously sworn off all food, stating, “I never want to eat again,” I was eating again… imagine that.

The city of Cusco.

Side streets in Cusco, including the hotel that Andy and I had stayed at in 2013. It is a non-profit that donates the proceeds to helping local kids. Matt and I randomly stumbled upon it while wandering around.

The next morning, Andy was feeling quite a bit better (miraculously) and, for the first time since Matt’s arrival, we all went out together for a day trip. Our taxi driver, Emerson, was awesome! Emerson spoke even less English than we did Spanish, so we mostly conversed in Spanish, helping each other with the other’s language along the way. Our first stop was at an overlook at the edge of the Sacred Valley, where we bought a few souvenirs from a local family, took photos, and pet the baby llama. Next stop was Ollantaytambo, a massive terraced fortified ruin with impressive rock masonry and carvings. The view from the top was incredible! After exploring the ruins for a few hours, we returned to the taxi and made our way to Salinas de Maras, which are pre-Incan salt mining terraces. A salt water spring was diverted to fill thousands of individual terraced fields, allowing the water to evaporate, and the salt to be collected, before filling the field with more salt water. Besides being unique and beautiful, the process had been repeated for the past thousand years or so… impressive! The next stop was at Moray, an Incan site with terraced holes, thought to be used as an agricultural research center. The elevation difference and relative position in the circle mimicked different climates throughout the Incan empire, allowing researchers to develop hearty plants and food stocks… even more impressive!!! The last stop of the day was at Chinchero, and Incan site with some terraces, a Catholic church, and an expansive field overlooking the beautiful Peruvian landscape. Struck by the desire to do cartwheels in the field, we ended up spending a good amount of time laughing at each other’s cartwheel skills, creating shadow puppets on the rock wall, and learning acro-yoga from Matt while watching the sun go down. It was a great day.    

The overlook en-route to the ruins.

Ollantaytambo!

More Ollantaytambo and the awesome llama hat I wish I had bought - reverse buyers remorse. Also, the most inventive sprinkler ever! 

Salinas de Maras. 

Beautiful Moray.

Chincero.

Being kids at Chinchero. Apart from our acro-skills, check out how perfectly the stones fit together in the wall at the bottom-left!

Back in Cusco, our great day got worse when the laundry establishment lost a pair of PJ shorts (my only pair of PJ shorts actually) and then accused me of stealing my own shorts… no, seriously, she actually went and reviewed the surveillance camera footage of us going through the clothes, convinced I had stolen them in order to scam her out of money. Seriously!!!?! It took about an hour and a half to sort it out – the time was mostly spent refusing to leave without them looking for them. Eventually, the shorts were found in the back room and the woman apologized profusely. All of this interaction was done in Spanish by the way… remarkable how fast you can learn a language when you have no other choice.

Narrowly missing the bus, we rushed from the guesthouse with a takeout pizza in order to make it to the PeruHop bus station in time for the overnight bus to Arequipa. When we arrived, our stomachs sank… it was completely abandoned. Had we missed the bus?! Nope, the PeruHop staff had messed up (thanks to the earthquake situation) and booked us on a bus which didn’t exist. Our options were to wait until the next night (which was not an option since we had a tight schedule to maintain) or attempt to take a bus with a different company. The PeruHop office manager was amazing and helped make other last-minute arrangements and a couple hours later than expected, we were on our way to Arequipa on a double decker bus with TVs in the seats and a stewardess – payed for by PeruHop! Customer service?... what’s that?