It’s 5 a.m. and I guess I’m used to getting up in the rain forest so early that I just wake up. So here I type! We were ready at 3: 30 yesterday morning when Pablo came to take us to our early 7 a.m. flight to Cuzco, Peru. Brune had met us the evening before when we returned from the rain forest to help out with Betty shopping for things to replace some of the stolen stuff from her backpack which never showed up She is now using one of my net shopping bags as a substitute bag. Brune walked us over to a mall, looking like any shopping mall anywhere She treated us to coffee/juice and some delicious chocolate ice cream before we shopped. She helped us get money from ATM and food for dinner /they had a food court) and walked us back out to a taxi home.
Elena had collected our laundry when we arrived and it was now neatly folded in a basket I took a picture of her, her daughter (maybe in her 20s) and her granddaughter Stephanie, maybe 8 or 9. The daughter understood the most English but they all are delightful and certainly a treasure to Brune and Miye who run this business out of Miye’s house. Miye is in the Gal. Is. leading a boat tour (her home is on the middle floor, we were on the upper, and Elena in the lower level.) Elena had packed us a box breakfast to take, and woke up to let Pablo in at 3Ñ30. She got the biggest tip from us!
Absolutely no traffic got us to the airport in a bit over 1/2 an hour, we checked in and our flight took off at 7. We haven’t seen great views of the Andes when flying because it’s always so cloudy. We switched planes in Lima, after claiming our luggage and rechecking in. We’re running out of time so decided to skip over Lima and go right on to Cuzco and M.P.
Arriving in Cuzco turned out to be a hassle. Taxi hawkers crowded and yelled at us and we tried to ignore them. We had no soles (Peruvian money - about 3 to the dollar). People seemed very rude but we finally found a lovely woman at the information desk to actually call our B & B as we had reserved for the right day but the wrong date to see if they had a bed for us. Finally we got some money with 3 taxi hawkers hovering (next time I will firmly tell them to back away - people are very careful here at ATM machines to have no one watching) and one taxi guy said 10 soles to take us to Suecia street downtown Of course, when we got in the car, he said oh, he meant $10 plus another 10 for paying his parking! We had an argument all the way to the Plaza in downtown, I was angry and even yelling, which I can’t remember the last time that happened! -we ended up paying him the 15 soles plus I gave him 4 extra because he carried our bags to the top of our street. I arrived with a very unpleasant taste about Peru in my mouth.
We settled in our room at Pirwa B & B - cramped and it was cold during the night as the heater wouldn’t work so I put on some long underwear. We walked out and around the beautiful square less than a block away - this is a great location! We found a restaurant/ bar upstairs overlooking the action on Sunday in the square in Cuzco and had a beer and a HUGE piece of delicious chocolate cake! We tried to peek into two cathedrals on the square but you have to pay a fee at both. And mass was going on. I needed a lay down for awhile so we did that. At 5:30 we met with Cesar at the adjoining travel agency to schedule out our 3 days here and tours. Today will be more sites around Cuzco and tomorrow a 2 day 1 night in Agus Caliente up by MP on another tour through the Sacred Valley.
We had a lovely dinner at the restaurant where we get our free breakfast in the morning (they give a 15% discount off all meals when you stay here) and walked into the center of the plaza to see whose statue was there. I had been right, it was Atahualpa, the last king of the Incas who was murdered and tricked by the Spanish - Pizarro in the 1500s. I’m reading Isabel Allende’s book Inez of my Soul which gives a great fictionalized history of the period. The Spanish were real bastards, enslaving the blacks and indigenous people here. Of course, Columbus and his crew weren’t any better up north!
We were followed by all kinds of hawkers in the plaza and two girls stood next to us while we looked at the statue. One asked us where we were from and when I said MA she started reciting Boston, who was president now, who had been presidents before in this litany of facts I guess to impress me to buy something! I cut her off asking if the statue was Atahualpa. I did end up buying two Peruvian hats and from the other girl some small key chain things of llamas. Oh, I forgot! at one of the churches was a mother with two toddlers all colorfully dressed holding a baby alpaca! We did end up paying them for pictures with us! We didn’t find all this hassling for purchases in Ecuador and it’s not very comfortable. I know they are poorer and have to make a living but it’s a pain! You can’t stop to look at anyone’s wares because you feel guilty if you don’t buy. And we don’t have room to carry stuff!!
More later!
I did wake up around 2 am, actually shivering! I’m never cold! and put on another fleece vest! But it’s fine!
I still have to catch up on another day in the rain forest another time.
Ciao!
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