Y Ahora: Cuuuuzco - topia! (complete with waterslide)

Our one hour flight to Cuzco was great - I was so glad we opted for that instead of the 22 hour bus ride! Flying into Cuzco we could see the bright green mountains and red roofed town below us, a stark change from the dustiness of Lima and the coast.

We found a taxi in the rain and found a hotel with a heater and hot shower. It´s pretty cold in this town! It´s also one of the most beautiful and photogenic cities I´ve seen, all cobblestone (streets, sidewalks, walls, stairs...) with an array of churches, cathedrals, plazas, and picturesque alleyways - all engulfed by beautiful and imposing mountains and cold fog.

I still wasn´t feeling well, and the altitude definitely has an affect on one, so after exploring for a bit, I effortlessly slept the rest of the afternoon away. One great thing about naps is that Jordi NEVER takes them, which gives him some good alone time. This time, he happened to scope out the perfect restaurant for dinner. He woke me up and we went up to the church and plaza behind our hostal, where there was a celebration of some kind going on. Live music, dancing, loud firecrackers, smokey street food and kegs of Cusqueña abounded. Our restaurant was right in the middle of things, but a bit tucked back, so it was quieter and there was a wood burning stove to keep us warm and the most delicious Peruvian food ever.

We were no longer in the land of Ceviche, so the food kind of looks like starch, starch, more starch, and a side of starch, with a couple bites of meat. More specifically - french fries, yucca, chocla (fat corn), Peruvian wheat soup, a bit of alpaca meat or chicharon (fried pork) and some chicha (corn drink) to wash it down. But it DOES taste good! On the plus side, there is still an abundance of fruit in Cuzco, anything from strawberries, grapes, and watermelon to all the tropical fruit we had in Mancora.

Anyways, the next day we took a walking tour of Cuzco following the guide in our Lonely Planet book, which took most of the day. We had a great private tour of a Cathedral and convent by the curator himself, who was quite the character.

In the afternoon we hiked up to a big white Jesus statue called the Cristo Blanco who overlooks the whole town. It was reeeeally muddy and steep to get to it, and we were very thankful for our hiking boots! Cuzco is a great town to traipse around in, and we had a lot of fun!

The next morning we took a bus to begin our trek to Machu Picchu. For some reason we thought that Cuzco was close to the ruins, but really it´s about a four hour adventure including busses, minivan taxi´s and trains to get there! Onward and upward...!!!