January 22, 2010

Headed out to Peru via Continental Airlines.  flight 92 from LAX to Houston, flight 590 from Houston to Lima.  My friend Michael who is accompanying me on this trip is already there.  He arrived earlier in the day.  By the time I got through customs, it was after midnight. 

Michael and I made our arrangements through www.epuertotravelperu.com  The rates were very reasonable and Percy helped us develop a personal itinerary.  More on Epuerto later.

My time in Lima was spent going to and from a hotel from the airport.  I was there less than 12 hours.  The one thing I did notice was how well US exports was doing.  McDonalds, Chilis, Friday's and KFC could be found at every every few miles. As much as I like fast food, does McDonalds need to be everywhere? 

Landed in Cusco and went straight to the - Casa Andina Cusco Plaza We were greeted by the travel operator Percy, who lives in Cusco.  Over a cup of Coca tea, we went over the itinerary.  Our city tour would start that afternoon - we were given an an hour or so to get lunch and to rest and we would start our tour at 1:30 PM.

We would have three stops that day, the Colonial Cathedral, the Temple of the Sun and Sacsayhuaman (sounds like Sexywoman).

Sounds like an easy day - but it wasn't.  The altitude of Cusco is about 11,000 feet.  I had heard about altitude sickness but didn't know just how bad it could be.  By the end of the day, I was having difficult walking just a few steps and found myself gasping for air.  I thought the oxygen tanks in the lobby was a bit extreme, it wasn't.

Colonial Cathedral

Temple of the Sun

Sacsayhuaman (sounds like Sexywoman) Famous for the for its enormous carved rocks and Qenqo and Tombomachay

Coca Leaves and Coca Tea

Sampler appetizers including Alpaca.

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