CUSCO, PERU

The next morning I woke up early and took a taxi back to the airport for my flight to Cusco. The ticket recommended getting there two hours early, and I did, but it meant waiting a long time for my flight. I was slightly shocked when we boarded in such an organized fashion that we were able to leave about 10 minutes early for Cusco.

The flight was only an hour, so it was over before it got too boring. Cusco is at an altitude of between 10,500 and 12,000 feet above sea level and every person and every book recommends that you take the altitude seriously. It’s recommended that you rest for the first few hours and eat lightly, otherwise you could collapse of altitude sickness I suppose. For the first time in my life someone met me in front of the airport with my name written on a sign. I had reserved a room at a central 3-star hotel for $25/night including tax and breakfast as well as hotel transfer (a ride from the airport).

It seemed very odd that this girl with my name on the signboard would go to such trouble to get me to the hotel. I knew the competition for hotel guests was intense, but this seemed above and beyond the call of duty. She found a cab driver that whisked us into the beautiful city, through the central plaza and then up a steep and narrow road two blocks to the hotel. The girl had me set my bag down in the lobby, then got me a cup of Coca leaf tea (for the altitude, supposedly) and started to sell me on a complete package for my planned Monday trip to Machu Picchu.

Now everything made sense. She didn’t actually work for the hotel, but for a travel agency and picking people up at the airport gives her a clear, first shot at newly arriving suckers. The whole reason I was in Cusco was to go to Machu Picchu and even though I had researched it I hadn’t booked that part of the trip. She was friendly and explained everything well. It was a little more than I was hoping to spend, but I knew the price was within a reasonable range and booking through her would save me a lot of trouble so I booked it. It was $130 for the train, entrance, English tour, and all buses to and from, but it was all in one day.

I then finished the check in to the hotel, which was even nicer than I expected. The European guy working the front desk urged me to have more coca leaf tea (which is completely non-narcotic, by the way). You are treated upon arrival like Albert Brooks was treated when he first got to Judgment City in Defending Your Life. It’s kind of nice actually, instead of the frenzy you normally go through upon arriving in a new city for the first time, you are urged to take a nap for a couple of hours to adjust to the altitude. Far be it from me to pass up a chance to rest, and I had woken up early anyway, so I got to my room and took a nap.

When I left the room and started walking down the steep hill into the Plaza De Armas (main square) it hit home why my tour booker did what she did. The city of Cusco is absolutely breathtaking with its colonial monuments and cathedrals and yet every other business in town is a travel agency or tour booker of some kind. Finding a travel agency in Cusco is like finding a casino in downtown Las Vegas. At that point it occurred to me that I might have paid more than I had to for my Machu Picchu expedition, but it was still reasonable so I didn’t regret booking right way, much.

I walked around a bit and was going to walk into a book-recommended travel agency to ask if there was a city bus tour of some kind, but on my way there my path was blocked by one of those trolley-looking buses that usually offer a hop-on, hop-off tour of a city. It was only two dollars and was leaving right then, so I impulsively jumped aboard. It turned out to be absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted. A charming young local girl read explanations of each local landmark in English and Spanish for the first 40 minutes or so. The windows of the bus were literally wide open so you could stick your head out and take a picture if you wanted.

The narration ended and we started ascending the winding roads up to the giant Jesus statue that overlooks the city, where we were left for 10 minutes to stretch our legs and take photos. Back on board, the guide pointed out some archeological sites on the way back down and soon we arrived back in the town square. They are completely different cities, but I found my $2 90-minute tour of Cusco to be far more enjoyable than my $20 3.5 hour tour of Lima. It goes to show you that you definitely don’t always get what you pay for as a foreign tourist.

I had seen enough of the city for one day so I decided to book the all-day bus tour of The Sacred Valley for the next day that the airport girl told me about. She said it was $20, including lunch, which seemed pretty good for a 9-hour trip. I checked the prices at 3 different agencies right on the main square for the same tour. Two were $15, not including lunch and the other was $6, even though they all admitted it was pretty much the same tour. Emboldened by my cheap city tour I took a chance with the $6 bilingual tour for the next day. I figured at that price, even if the bus didn’t show up it was no great loss.

I went into an English pub I’d found earlier with an amazing view of the town square to have a few beers and watch the St. Louis Rams beat Seattle in the NFC wildcard game. It started to rain (this IS the wet season in this part of the country, after all), then it rained even harder. I ran up the street to a Mexican restaurant I read about in my guide and had one of the best Mexican meals I’ve had in my life, including an appetizer, a margarita, and a huge bottle of beer for about $11, including tip. I looked for a techno club that I read about in my guidebook that was supposed to open at 8 pm, but it had a new name and I was told it now opened at 10 p.m. I was too tired so I walked up the steep hill to my hotel and called it a night at 9:30.

At that point I noticed getting short of breath walking up the hill, which I wouldn’t normally get at sea level. This was my first sign of the altitude, but I still think it’s a bit overrated.

The next morning I woke up early and had the free continental breakfast at my hotel. It was very nice, but not particularly filling. The guy serving it asked me if I wanted huevos (eggs) but I think he must have actually said huevo because it was one scrambled egg on a saucer, but also with two Johnnycakes and butter and jam. I went down to the town square to meet the bus for my all day $6 trip. At that point I was still expecting some crazy surprise because it just seemed too cheap. I was surprised when one of the employees of the agency that sold me the ticket the day before recognized me as I walked up and helped the small group assembled find the correct bus to board. This was the street on the town square where all the tourist buses stop and as we waited for our bus we saw dozens if not hundreds of other buses come by and sometimes stop and pick up passengers. As I waited I began chatting with a young man named Sergio from Bogotá who was vacationing with his father Rafael. They were very friendly and Sergio in particular seemed thrilled to have someone to practice English with.

Buses came and buses went and we waited. Eventually ours arrived and to my surprise it was one of the larger and more luxurious ones of the many we had seen. There were already about 20 people on board the 40 seat bus and about 6 of us got on there. We then went around the corner and waited about 10 more minutes for another 15 young people, who would fill every last seat. Luckily, the seats were comfortable and I had a window seat. Strangely, the only non-Spanish speakers on the whole bus (although most were bilingual) were me and an older couple from Israel. The guide stood in front and explained everything in both languages, which is exhausting to listen to.

We stopped at some Inca ruins and climbed up and down some extremely dangerous stairs to get there. Once there it was all explained, we took photos, then the long walk back to the bus. Next we stopped for 30 minutes at a local craft (souvenir) market, but I wasn't very interested as souvenirs are absolutely everywhere you go and they literally follow you down the street sometimes. The next stop was a lunch buffet where I had to pay $4,50 for an excellent meal in a nice upstairs patio restaurant. All the older people ate there, but most of the younger people wanted to find something cheaper so they walked into the town and met us again later.

After lunch it was a long drive to another Incan ruin with lots of steep, although less dangerous, stairs. The sites were wonderful and I could feel myself getting sunburned throughout the day. It was raining in the morning so I didn’t bother to bring sunscreen or a hat. The last stop was a church in a small town on the way back to Cusco and in front of the church was another “craft market”. Again, nice enough, but the whole trip stretched to almost 10 hours. I definitely feel I got my money’s worth and I’m very glad I did it, although it was somewhat agonizing at times being led around in a huge group from one touristy spot to another and having to listen to bilingual explanations. For $6 it was a heck of a deal so I definitely don’t regret it, especially after it’s over.

I had to wake up even earlier the next morning for the train to Machu Picchu and I had some writing work to do. I rushed to an Internet café and wrote an article and sent it to the editor with a backup copy to a different email account of mine. It turned out the document was empty everywhere it went so this work was in vain. I had a few drinks, dinner, and went to bed.