After yet another airport mishap (I guess it’s bound to happen when you take 4 flights in 3 days, right?) I am alive, in one piece, and settled down in Cusco, Peru — country number 4!
I got in my cab at 6 AM this morning, this time to the right airport (ha), and when I checked in at the Santiago airport, I found out that LAN had automatically changed my connecting flight to Cuzco (you have to fly through Lima, the only international airport in Peru) up an hour, so I only had a 50 minute layover. I asked the LAN attendant checking me in if this was enough time and she said yes, no problem, so I stayed on the earlier flight. Mistake.
I get to Lima and discover that not only do I have to go through customs at the Lima airport, but I also have to claim my baggage and re-check in for my second flight. Our flight from Santiago left 15 minutes late, and there were multiple international flights landing in Lima when ours did, so I wasn’t even close to making my connection. Three LAN attendants and a lot of sweat later (I was layered up for cold weather and the airport was SO hot!) I got a seat on the flight I had originally scheduled. Ridiculous, but it ended up working out fine, thanks to a very nice LAN attendant named Angel (ironic, I know). Security in Lima was super confusing — I got in a line and had all of my stuff in bins on the conveyor belt before someone told me that the line was men only. When I got to the other line and it was both men and women, and the person who ended up having to scan me after I went through the metal detectors was also a male? Very confusing. All of this travel has also helped me realize that South Americans, regardless of the country, have no sense of your personal bubble. When you’re in line, they’re 3 inches from you at all times, half walking in front of you, half shoving you forward. It was irritating at first, but now its (mostly) entertaining.
In happier news, Cuzco is beautiful. When we landed, I was literally breathless watching the snow covered mountains and the gorgeous green hills surrounding the city — I had beautiful weather today, and the sun lit everything so perfectly. I made a friend, Harold, from Austria, on my flight from Lima, and we ended up on the same Cuzco flight despite my whole mess, and shared a cab to our respective hostels. Always good to have a buddy who speaks English!
A view of the surrounding hills from the Plaza de Armas, 3 blocks from my hostel!
My hostel is huge, but really great — much cleaner than the place we stayed in Montevideo, and there are dozens of people staying here in several large rooms. I’m in an 8 bed female room with a bathroom ensuite, but so far 5 of the 8 beds are empty. After I checked in, I wandered through a few of the plazas that are right near my hostel, had a delicious quinoa salad for late lunch, then went for my pre-departure trek briefing. I met my guide, Juan, and another couple from London (yay English speakers!) who will be trekking with me. Our guide, who has been leading treks to Machu Picchu for 4 years, said there were 3 other people on the trip who were being briefed tomorrow, so I’ll meet them Wednesday when we leave.
My itinerary is pretty intense, and though I’m still a bit nervous, now I’m mostly excited. I’m glad I’m challenging myself and not just taking the train to Machu Picchu — I know doing the trek will be so much more rewarding in the end, but I’m also more than thrilled that I’m not going to be sleeping on the ground in a tent for four nights.
The Catedral in the Plaza de Armas
The first day of the trek we take a 3 hour bus ride from Cuzco, then go from an altitude of 4100 meters all the way down to 1500 meters… on mountain bikes. I think this is the part I’m most nervous for — riding a bike on a wide, paved road in Uruguay was a big enough challenge for me! Our guide assured me that I could stop as often as I wanted and that 80% of the road is asphalt, so that made me feel a bit better, but it will definitely be nerve-wracking. After the biking we take a short bus ride, then go river rafting. I’ve been warned we’ll get wet and it will be Class II and III rapids, but they’re providing wet suits, and said we’re supposed to have great weather, so hopefully I won’t freeze to death. After the rafting we arrive at our first hostel in Santa Maria, where I will most likely pass out from total exhaustion.
Day two is 7-8 hours of hiking, part of which is along the Inca Trail. I was told originally that we have to carry all of our stuff, but our guide told us we can pay 5 Peruvian sols (less than $2) to have our stuff carried instead, and even though I’m packing light, I’ll probably take advantage of the cheap porters! After a long day of hiking we’ll get to relax in the hot springs, and then get to our second hostel in Santa Teresa.
Day 3 is what I’m most excited for — zip-lining! I can’t wait for this part of the trek — it will definitely be my motivation during 8, very long hours of hiking on day 2. We walk for a few hours (9km) after the zipline, then get to our third and final hostel where, dun dun dun, we get a hot shower! (The two other hostels are in towns where no hot water runs, period.) We’ll get to bed early and then be up at 4:30 AM the next day to get out to Machu Picchu, where our guide will show us around for the morning. Then we have the afternoon to ourselves at the ruins before we get on the train back to Cuzco. I’m booked in the same hostel for another two nights after my trek, so I can relax, do some souvenir shopping, and let my sore muscles relax before I take a 10 hour bus ride down to Puno at Lake Titicaca. The plan for tomorrow is to take a guided half day trip to four or five of the ruins sites outside Cuzco — that way I don’t wander aimlessly and misunderstand everything I’m seeing.
I can’t believe this part of the trip is finally happening — it’s so surreal, and probably won’t feel real until my muscles are aching from all the rafting, biking and hiking. Cross your fingers for me!