The Road to Cusco and Acclimatising

At 1.20am in Quito our airport ride hadn’t turned up. We were also locked inside the hostel by a massive bolt our key didn’t open. I had to wake up the receptionist who was asleep in her bed to let us out and call a taxi. Predictably, Washington’s middleman person turned up the same time as the taxi. Since it wasn’t the man himself, we turned the ride down and took the taxi. I felt a little bad.

We checked in at the airport with no problems and were soon napping on the plane to Lima. There we had to pick up our bags, clear immigration and re-check into the domestic flight. Lima to Cusco was only an hour and probably a spectacular flight, but we couldn’t see any views from the aisle seat.

Upon arriving we didn’t immediately feel the altitude. We were ripped off by a taxi driver by a good 20 soles, but we were so tired and didn’t know how to argue in Spanish. Our hostel was a little bit out of the main town, but it made up for it with amazing views over the entire valley and city.

Cusco is very brown; brown hills, brown buildings with terracotta rooves, brown churches. Their flag is the rainbow and it flutters from almost every street corner. The whole city seems to be one big pride festival. Even the police have rainbow flags stitched onto their sleeves.

Susie had a nap and I had about three cups of coca tea (the coca leaves help ward off the effects of altitude sickness). I feel a little dizzy now, but it could easily be from only 3 hours of sleep.

We went for a walk around town and found the most amazing food, real coffee from a coffee machine, salads, vegan food and normal cafes. It was so comforting after the yuca and plantain starchy food of Ecuador. There’s load of tourists and heaps of tourist shops selling alpaca jumpers and hiking tours.

We have a whole week here but I almost wish it was longer so I could try more of the hikes. Mind you, I was thinking that before I tried walking up the stairs to our hostel with my hands and feet tingling from the altitude medicine and feeling like I was going to faint. There’s a third less oxygen here than at sea level according to Susie. We’re at 3300 metres. On our trip I bought some fleece leggings to be my winter pyjama pants and flag patches of all the countries I’ve visited so far.

We spent some time watching the sun go down over the city and the lights on the hills start coming on. Then we walked down to a vegan restaurant near our house. I had a quinoa risotto with mushrooms. It was light and delicious. On the very cold walk home I didn’t feel quite as puffed (or at least not like I was going to faint) so maybe I’m starting to adjust already.

More acclimatisation

We really didn’t do a lot today. I woke up at 6am but lay in until breakfast. Then our mission for the day was exchanging Susie’s dirty USD for some fresh notes (surprisingly difficult), buying Susie new tramping boots (again!), and purchasing alpaca jumpers. Mine is so snuggly.

We had lunch at this place called Jack’s. I had briefly read that it was part-owned by an Aussie and sold flat whites, so I immediately wanted to go. It was down an extremely narrow street, filled with about 100 primary school students on an excursion. Inside, it smelt like a NZ-cafe, I was so happy I could’ve cried. There were ‘long blacks’, ‘flat whites’, avocado on toast, pancakes with banana and maple syrup, a stack of English magazines to read... all the things you honestly take for granted until you have to eat stale bread, powdered coffee, rice&beans, and plantain starch for two months.

We completed all our missions for the day and headed home via the supermarket. I was having second thoughts about my job interview and tried to cancel it. Instead, I ended up having an extra interview with just the people I was going to be working with. I also met a nice Brazilian man who sat a bit too close to me and read me poetry in Portuguese on the couch of the hostel while I was frantically trying to contact the HR lady.

The altitude doesn’t seem as bad again today. I mean, I still get puffed walking the shortest distances and my fingers and toes haven’t stopped tingling from the medicine. But overall, I don’t feel like I’m going to suffocate. It's a good sign for tomorrow when I am going to try walking to the same altitude as Everest base camp!