First Week in Peru

Well, I´m finally writing again. Here are my key takeaways. Peru is a neat country with too much natural beauty and fascinating pre-colonial history. The colonial architecture in Cusco is awesome and the narrow, cobble stone streets of the artisan and tourist quarter of Cusco, known as San Blas, while they wind me every time I walk up to my hostal, are extremely pleasant. The first day we spent around the city center known as the Plaza De Armas, I felt pretty out of it due to the high altitude here (nearly 11,000ft). At first I was worried about water on the brain or the lungs, but towards the end of the day (last Wednesday) I was feeling much better and think I've acclimated to the altitude OK. On Thursday we climbed to an even higher altitude (12,566ft) when we took a bus to the south of Peru, Puno City on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The maximum altitude we've hit so far is around 14,000 ft! When you're that close to the sky the sun, moon, and clouds take on a different meaning. I can only imagine how things are above 20k on the snowy mountains we've seen along the way.

Here's another takeaway. Bolivia is not a tourist friendly country for Americans. It's also not too safe. But it's natural beauty is unparralled. More on Bolivia later.

A few other takeaways: 1)cell phone plans are expensive here, as expensive as $80 for 450 minutes, however, you only pay for the calls you make and txt messages are free, stupid USA nickle and diming for both receiving and sending calls and texts!! 2) You have to pay for your liqour and get a receipt (at the caja) before presenting it to the bar tender who then takes a long time to mix your drink 3) There's an indian restaurant in peru which claims to be the only curry house in Peru run by real Indians, I spoke with the owner and she said she had know idea how they ended up in Peru, it's really not part of the Indian diaspora's destination list...

I'm finally hitting up the Sacred Valley (lots of Incan Ruins) and Machu Picchu tomorrow thru Thursday.