Alive

I am in Peru.

I arrived in Lima at exactly midnight, after a two hour delayed flight, six hours in the Newark airport, and waking up before 2am. I slept on the plane maybe 5 hours and 2 hours at the airport, but its not the most restful sleep. I got some shots from the plane to Newark at dawn (above).

I learned one thing immediately upon arriving in Lima -- book plane tickets in advance. When I arrived I didn´t really want to stay, I wanted to get straight to Cusco. Unfortunately only two companies had their offices open at 2am Sunday morning, and the third, which had the cheapest price according the my research didn´t even have an office at the airport. Good planning. I asked the LAN rep how much the 540am ticket to Cusco would cost and it was outlandish, so I told her I´d think it over. She referred me to the other company saying they were selling their 6am at half the price. StarPeru is the company name and is reputable, so it was a no brainer. The rep showed me the half price on the calculator, I said bueno and then as I was handing over my passport and credit card the price miraculously increased by 25 USD. I asked her if she understood why I wasn´t happy being told one price and then another but she feigned ´no entiendo´ -- I don´t understand. I told her I´d think about it and was now in a really sour mood. The sleep deprivation and travel probably had a lot to do with it.

I grabbed some breakfast, I have no idea what it was but it was good -- I would describe it as 3 pizza pockets baked from scratch with beef in 1 and spicy chicken in the other 2. Still cranky but rehydrated (gatorade is cheap here) I ventured back to StarPeru´s desk. A new man was there and he told me that the Cusco trip was now 25$ more than the last time ie 50USD more than originally. I wasn´t pleased. I told him the story and then waited for the woman to return. They weren´t interested in admitting what was going on, it was obvious they thought I had to have the ticket and were going to fleece the gringo up. I told them as much and went back to LAN. Their price hadn´t changed, and I was off to Cusco by 6am. I ended up taking the exact same flight (ie no time saved or wasted) at the exact same price as I could´ve booked weeks ago on the internet. If only Taca had an office. I knew they supposedly offered half of what I paid for a tuesday morning flight. But then again, I didn´t want to stay in Lima until then.

It ended up being a good choice, I sat between two Peruvian businessmen and the flight was smooth as imaginable. The descent into the city, shortly after dawn, was incredible. For ten minutes we came down through layers of mist surrounded by lush green mountains that occasionally transitioned into snowcaps. From above I saw terracing inherited from the Incas consume entire mountainsides. Finally, to hit the runway our pilot dipped into the valley and turned at what seemed like an 80 degree angle. I actually thought he sped up as the city appeared under us -- but the landing was smooth as possible. LAN gave me some breakfast and agua (water) before we landed so I decided to make up some of the cost of the flight by not hiring a taxi into the main city. According to my guidebook there are much cheaper colectivos, but, on my first day here, I was not prepared to get on one. They aren´t real busses -- they are just boxy 1980s minivans. They screech to a halt when hailed and have 10 people packed into them like a clown car.

The walk seemed pretty risky at the outset, given my gringo appearance and tired state. But it was worth it, because for the first 4 kilometers I walked uphill I saw the kind of poverty that isn´t cute (like the trinket sellers on every corner of the old city). Peru was ravaged by an earthquake a couple years ago and the effects are evident. Roads are just mud, and the av del sol, a main street running through the city, is no exception. There are island dividers, but in places one side of the mud road is just littered in rocks, debris, and holes, so two way traffic switches to the one side that is intact. The sidewalk is similar -- the concrete is so overcome in places, by mud and wear -- you would think they didn´t have concrete at the time they must have poured it. The dichotomies were pretty strong -- if a place wasn´t abandoned and I´d say half were on this portion of my walk -- they were very secure, with barbed wire, electric fences, and 6 foot iron gates. Stray dogs are everywhere, but I saw the most incredible thing -- they not only know how to cross the street, they understand traffic signals! It was a pretty uncanny sight when I saw two dogs waiting for the light.

I was still pretty cranky, I knew the route I was taking was haphazard and my bags were beggining to weigh on me by 830, as the town began to see life. I also didn´t know where I was going per se. I had decided when I got on the plane to Cusco I was going to get a nice bed tonight and pay a little extra. I would have to recover and I would probably make the best value of it since I was likely to spend most of my time in the room. The other reason for this was the necessity to guard against altitude sickness -- I had already violated rule number 1. I had taken a hike with a full load on my back for hours uphill at high altitude sleep deprived and dehydrated. My body felt no different from a workout but I was going to rest it nonetheless. When I arrived in the old city I whipped out my handy guidebook and found what looked like a great option. It was at the top of the city, overlooking everything, but not far from anything by any means. All I would have to do is navigate to it. As I wandered the road and sidewalk (which had since become concrete) transitioned again into cobblestone. I walked by ancient Incan walls and through the main plaza de arms. It was spectacular but I was too tired to stop. I finally had to pause for breath as in the last leg of my journey the road took an unyielding 35-40 degree incline. The 10 degree incline I had been hiking up before now didn´t seem like much.





When I set foot in the door -- I can´t remember my hotel´s name right now -- the owner was a breath of fresh air. Hablas Ingles? Yes. Do you have a single? Yes. Bathroom? Yes. How much? Prices are on the wall (ie they dont change from what the guidebook said they´d be based on my disoriented and exploitable appearance). I´ll take it. It was 930 and she let me in -- her son guided me through a veritable maze of terraced roofs and balconies to my room. I´ve attached some pictures from my room, and shower (last -- and having rotation difficulties).



I thanked him, undressed, and collapsed. I woke up at 4 this afternoon, and to my delight my shower produced hot water. Clean and rested, but hungry, I made a plan to grab some food at a local (guidebook recommended) restaurant and then to the internet cafe before coming back and resting again for the night. Of course, my plan to stick to the reliable for the first day failed since the restaurant was no longer at the location the map said it would be. I wandered the streets until a guy hawked me down and told me about his menu. I had dismissed a lot of people before but I was hungry, and he offered a full meal for 15 sol (4.50US, give or take). I sat down and had a wonderful meal, pisco sour to start (the pino colada-esque drink of choice for Peruvians), delicious garlic bread, avocado soup, finished with french fried potatos, coca tea, and alpaca steak. Alpaca is definitely closer to steak in taste than chicken and it was really good. The potatos were very hearty and filling. I only drank about a third of my tea, it was pretty evident after a few sips it was the stimulant it is advertised to be. The price was the price and I thanked the owners. One funny thing about the meal -- upon hearing I was Canadian the man offered to sell me some weed. I politely declined but two groups of tourists came into the restaurant to make said exchanged in the 30 minutes I was there eating. I wonder if all restaurants are like this.

That brings me to now. I´m going to spend the rest of the night at the hotel sleeping. I´m looking forward to the morning where I´ll have a wake up call, hot shower, and free breakfast. Hopefully I will be energized for the hardship to come, as I´m going to transfer to a hostel that´s a quarter of the price or so per night without any of those ammenities. Tomorrow I also have to get to the bank to change some traveller´s cheques, and I´ll generally wander around. There is a tourism card for about ten of the main sites, and I haven´t bought it yet since for four days come Saturday I´ll be in Machu Picchu. So my plan in the interm may be to see all those sites not covered by the card, arrange a trip to the jungle after my return from Machu Picchu, and learn some Spanish. One thing has become very clear very quickly here. If I don´t start speaking and understanding Spanish I am not going to survive.

Best

Gareth