South America, Day 4: Lima to Cusco, Peru

South America, Day 4: Lima to Cusco, Peru
by Oliver Butterick

We woke up Sunday morning, showered, packed, and got ready to check out. We had a little extra time, so we had breakfast at the hostel. Our entertainment for the morning was a heated table tennis match between Tesh and Mel. Though neither is quite ready for the international circuit, they were both decent players. Given that Mel wasn’t that bad, it seemed rather peculiar how Mel seemed to miss every ball that Tesh hit in my direction. Peculiar indeed!

It was then time to settle our bill, so the three of us packed ourselves into the small office with Edmundo, the hostel manager. A seemingly simple transaction became quite complicated as we tried to figure out much each of us owed for the stay, taking into account that Tesh had prepaid 10% with a credit card. Furthermore, we engaged in a lengthy discussion of whether it would be better to pay in soles (Peruvian currency) or US dollars. Finally, I left the office, realizing that too many chefs spoil the broth. Each of my traveling companions were intelligent enough to figure out a hostel bill, so my participation only served to extend what should have been a short conversation.

Once the bill is finally settled, we say our good-byes to our new Canadian friends. They decide to make us honorary Canadians, giving us each a pin for our backpacks. We catch a cab to the airport, leaving a little late, but end up arriving to our gate early, since we overestimated the time it would take at the airport. I think that we had forgotten that this would be a domestic flight, so we didn’t have to spend a bunch of time going through customs.

The short 55 minute flight was largely uneventful, though we did do a little seat shuffling so that the three of us could sit together. The next day, we ended up running into the guy that was nice enough to switch seats with Tesh. Cusco is a small tourist town, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. The landing was rather smooth, which was same as when we landed in Lima.

Here’s the deal: I’ve probably flown more than most people my age. My parents divorced when I was young, so I flew between them when I was a child, and during my early twenties, I flew quite a bit for work. I absolutely loved flying. The whole process was exciting to me—being in one place and then, a few hours later (or less), being somewhere completely different.

Somehow, in the past few years, I’ve grown to like flying less and less. The novelty has definitely worn off, and, more importantly, I’ve developed some sort of phobia regarding landings. When the plane touches down and the wings begin to rattle as the plane slows, I fear that we are very vulnerable to a mishap. I imagine that the plane is going to shift sideways and break the wings off as it flips over. Have you seen how tiny the wheels are on a commercial jet? How can they support and stabilize such a large vessel??? Anyway, the landing is Cusco was very smooth, and hopefully this trend will continue through the rest of the trip.

A driver sent by our hostel was waiting for us at the airport. We quickly found our bags and we rode to the center of town. The hostel was very...nice. Quiet and quaint, but with a much smaller room than we had in Lima; still, the hostel would work out just fine. Cusco is located in a valley and the surrounding hills. We are staying a short walk from the main tourist square, where there are many good restaurants and discotecas. Although much bigger than Bisbee (Arizona), Cusco reminds me of my recent stay there. Our hostel is a short uphill walk from the main part of Old Town Cusco, the Plaza de Armas. The streets are mainly cobblestone, which is cute at first, but annoying once it started raining, making our uphill climb back to the hostel quite slippery.

After settling into the hostel a bit, we venture out into town and have dinner at a restaurant recommended by the guidebooks. I believe it was called “La Madrid.” The décor was very swanky and metropolitan—it felt like we were in some posh lounge in Hollywood or New York. We ordered dinner, and it was amazing—by far the best meal we had eaten up to that point in the trip.

We stop by another bar on our walk back to the hostel. It was another small, lounge-like establishment, and it was nearly deserted, likely because it was still early and it had started to sprinkle outside. After a round of coffees, we decide to head back to the hostel so we can call it a night. I was looking forward to a good night’s rest because tomorrow, we’ll be traipsing all over the hills above Cusco, touring the local Inca ruin sites.

Oliver can be reached at oliver@babblog.com.