Peruvian Peregrination Part 2: Cusco & Aguas Calientes

CUSCO, PERU
n. "coos-co" with an S, not a Z, people.
10/30/11- 10/31/11
Not many photos from this particular episode...you'll see why.

We arrived via Star Peru Airlines (never expect a South American airline to be on time otherwise you're sure to be disappointed. Make sure you come with snacks) in Cusco and shacked up at the youth hostel Eco Packers which had an awesome open air courtyard in the center equipped with couches, a hammock, computers, and ping pong table scattered about the stone floors and semi-covered outskirts. We shared another eight person bunk room with girls from Norway and Ireland who were on trekking trips. While the beds were not nearly as comfy as those in Lima, they did the job. We were already up at 3400m altitude, so what's a few more meters up in the air on a rickety bunk, right? I was deathly afraid of getting altitude sickness the whole time, and my friends reminded me that it was all psychological and I would probably make myself dizzy before the altitude did.

Of course it began to rain as soon as we ventured out into the quaint cooblestone squares of Cusco, but we explored nontheless. There was a large outdoor public mass happening for some Catholic holiday or other (there are so many in South America that it's very easy to lose track) so we hopped into a touristy restaurant for a bite to eat and an Inca Cola (Peru's pride and joy, a yellow bubble-gum flavored cola). Finally, we explored the covered artisan markets for llama sweaters, scarves, silver jewelry, local art, and leather goods. We never buy much because we know we'll have to tote it around for the rest of the trip.
Finally, we returned to Eco Packers only to realize that our plans for Machu Picchu were all half-baked. We had bought our tickets to enter the park for $150 soles (multiply that by .4 relatively for USD) and thought we were set. No no no. You have to buy your train tickets (and find a bus to the train as well) to the city of Aguas Calientes months in advance if you want to avoid spending several nights there, and if you can't find any, you have to book a hostel to stay in as well.  After much frustration and failure of using our US credit cards (including global ones) to purchase train tickets, we finally gave up and decided to wake up early to find the train station in order to buy tickets. I was so frustrated and miserable and paranoid about altitude sickness that my friend graciously agreed to buy my ticket for me and let me sleep another hour. Our tickets, unfortunately, weren't the best and meant we'd have to stay in Aguas Calientes for two nights.
So around 1 o'clock in the afternoon we boarded a big van for the two hour journey up through the hills and poverty of Peru to the train. I should have known it was a bad omen the moment the driver decided there were enough chairs by seating me on a backless lawn chair alongside the seats. Strike one. The train took another hour and a half or two and I was feeling absolutely miserable. I was so nauseous I could barely take in the beauty of the journey, with windows on the train up past the edges of the ceiling to show the mountains and the sacred river alongside us that reaches all the way to Amazonia. When we all descended onto the platform, the altitude sickness took over and I spent the next 20 hours vomiting, crying, wallowing in self-pity, and lying in my bed at our hostel (named Super Tramp?...Strike Two.) while my friends went out exploring the tiny town of Aguas Calientes and handing out candy to little Peruvian kids on Halloween. I finally fell asleep at ten PM praying to Incan gods I'd be okay to climb Wayna Picchu mountain at five AM the following morning.

Stay tuned to find out if I made it.