Hello! We made it to Cusco on our re-scheduled flight out, no delays or cancellations this time! :-) We got into Cusco about 9:00am on Thursday, October 27th, and while we previously had only thought of the city as a jumping off point to Machu Picchu, we were pleasantly surprised to find the town had tons of charm, and almost immediately set out to explore the city. While we had a good time, what came as kind of a shock to the both of us, we came down with a moderate case of altitude sickness, even though we had been taking altitude medicine since the day before we left for South America (you are supposed to begin taking it 24 hours before you go to higher altitudes.) While this didn’t even come close to putting a damper on things, we seriously did not have the energy to do much around the city of Cusco, which is why there will be a Part II, as we plan to stay a few more days after returning from Machu Picchu to do a city tour.
Much of our time in Cusco was spent trying to obtain (successfully) Machu Picchu tickets. They have changed the regulations very, very recently, and we only just found out 1 day before we left for Cusco, so we went into the process with very little information (or, rather, very little CORRECT information). We did it, even though it took 2 days, and even though we (me) made an incorrect purchase the first time! :-) **the next post will be dedicated entirely to the process of obtaining permits, tickets, AND bus tickets to get to Machu Picchu, so please read on if this is of interest to you! :-)
We leave for Machu Picchu tomorrow morning at 5am, up for breakfast at 4am. We were able to obtain the very much sought after tickets to Huayna Picchu as well as Machu Picchu, so we are in for a climb and a half tomorrow. Picture-rich posts to come in the next few days!
Thinking of you ALL, and we will talk soon!
Scott and Jen
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There are cats at our Hostel! :-)
Coco shop, to help acclimate
Coco leaf tea, also for altitude sickness
This is their version of chips and queso – fried corn and cheese…it was actually very very good!!
hey its eric,
ReplyDeletejust wanted to say something about the coco leaves that we learned in school. Like you said it is for altitude sickness and its also used to make cocaine haha. thats why its illegal in the U.S.
Have fun!
Hi, hope you had a good time today...I love the pics, it looks like that kitten wants to pounce on you!! Funny, coco leaves, I thought Scott was smiling alot...lol...Love you, Ma
ReplyDeletehey eric, thanks for the info. we were actually just playing dumb but you blew our cover! ha ha!!
ReplyDeletewe had a great time (and weather) today, thank you, tom & jan... will post for machu picchu when we get back to cusco soon!