After my rather uneventful but very early flight to Atlanta (thanks Peter!). Ryan and I went for some delicious food near the airport before arriving for our flight almost 4 hours early (we are a little ocd like that when we are spending so much on tickets). It turned out to be a great thing that we got there so early, as they offered us an earlier flight to Miami, and we figured why not spend our time in an airport that we don't see as often. It turned out to be a great idea because the flight had only 12 people on it! That is unheard of in this day and age of overbooked flights. It was also wonderful because I made friends with the flight attendant and he was able to recommend a great Cuban restaurant, La Carreta, in the airport. Ryan had a delicious pork dish the name of which I cannot remember, and I had my favorite, ropa vieja. Both with maduros on the side of course!
Ryan enjoying a delicious airport meal
While the food was delicious, it unfortunately only filled 1 hour of our almost 7 hour layover!!!! We walked through every hallway in that airport. We also stopped in a few of the duty free shops searching for the perfect moisturizer to relieve Ryan's chapped hands. He has been spending a lot of time in da (sterile) hood, and they felt like sand paper when we met up. While we were unable to find a favorite, the combination of over 20 subpar lotions seemed to do the trick. After 6 long hours we were finally able to board our flight and head to Lima!!!!
Chatting on the telephone with nicely moisturized hands. We only brought along 2 small backpacks on the trip, but came back with an extra duffel full of purchases.
The flight to Lima was rather uneventful, although slightly odd because they served dinner at about 1 in the morning. Once we arrived in Lima we breezed through customs in 15 minutes(compared to the 2 hours we heard it could take), even with me getting the red light and having to undergo additional screening. This meant that once again we had way too much time in the airport, almost 4 hours, but at least early is better than late. After another long wait during which we struggled to keep our eyes open it was off to Cusco!!
Our first glimpse of the Plaza de Armas in Cusco
Once we arrived in Cusco we were going to take a taxi straight to Chinchero to get to the Sunday market there before it closes, but the man at the airport told us it would cost $30 (!!!) to get to Chinchero versus 20 soles (exchange rate is 2.8 soles per $) to get to the center of Cusco. We choose the cheaper option and went to the center of Cusco. From there it was about a half mile walk to Calle Pavitos (Turkey Street), where we were able to catch a collectivo to Chinchero for 7 soles each. Definitely the cheaper idea!!
For those of you who aren't familiar, a collectivo is basically a minivan, driven by a semi random man. He stands on the side of a previously specified road and shouts the name of where he is going, hoping to gather customers. Once the collectivo is full enough that even the floor of the small aisle is full, and people are sitting 5 across a seat, he leaves, needless to say it is a little cosy.
Our first glimpse of the high snow capped peaks of the Andes.
Once we arrived in Chinchero our first order of business was a bathroom. We have been taking acetazolamide to help with altitude sickness, and the unfortunate side effect is having to urinate more frequently. This has made no difference for me, since I have to pee a lot anyway, but seems to have made a huge difference for Ryan. We stopped at a store to buy water, and she told us that we could go in the door with a red flag to use the bathroom. We cautiously entered the doorway and walked into a small dark bar. With smiling faces they directed us to a wooden leanto about 5 feet tall, and Ryan walked in. I anxoiusly stood outside wondering how his first experience with a bucket toilet was going. When he exited he appeared happy, and I decided to brave it myself. It turned out to be much better than I expected, with 2 raised footbeds, and a hole at which you are supposed to aim (a little difficult for us ladies but I tried my best).
When we stepped out of the collectivo we were greeted by this amazing view.
From there we were off to the market. The market in Chinchero is much smaller and less touristy than the one that we are going to tomorrow in Pisac, and we were one of only a few small groups of tourist, so we were very popular with the vendors. At one point so many of them began shouting "senorita" at me that even they recognized how comical it was and broke out in a chorous of laughter.
The market in Chinchero.
We picked up some great souvenirs at Chinchero, including a flute made out of a llama bone, a few presents for my dad (sorry its a secret!!), and an Incan wedding blanket, which we thought was an apt purchase since we just got engaged 2 and a half months ago.
After Chinchero we hopped on a bus to Urubamba. Turns out the collectivos are actually more comfortable, which may be hard to imagine. Ryan stood near the door the entire time, and struggled to not fall out while people pushed by him to jump out of the bus as it slowed down to 5 mph at each stop, but the great part was it cost less than 2 soles each. Once we made it to Urubamaba we hopped on a collectivo to Ollantaytambo for only 1.20 soles each. The 2 hours of crowded travel through amazing scenery turned out to be well worth it!!
Ollantaytambo
Sounds like fun! Keep us in the loop!
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