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.
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