Bienvenido a Cusco!

Cusco is an absolutely beautiful town! When we arrived Monday morning around 8am it was cold and rainy. We arrived at The Point Hostel, Cusco at 8:30am and were greeted by a receptionist who let us know that we couldn't check in until 2pm. I proceeded to ask about my staff discount as I am an employee at The Point, Lima and was basically told I was SOL. Jason and I proceeded to briefly Skype with Franny and immediately take a much needed nap since we had about 3 hours of sleep the night before and because a side affect of acclimating to the 3,500 meter elevation (11,200 feet) is exhaustion. We napped until about noon when we headed to the bar where we could order lunch. I had chicken soup with quinoa and Jason had a crispy chicken sandwich doused with avocado. Both were delicious, but a side affect of acclimating is a lack of appetite. Some other wonderful side affects include difficulty breathing and catching one's breath, a racing heart, headache, diarrhea, nausea, and dizziness just to name a few. Luckily I only suffered from the difficulty breathing and catching of my breath, dizziness, and headaches. During mid-bite of my deliciously warm soup I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar face! Ben, an attractive Australian preparing for his afternoon shift at the bar had stayed at The Point, Lima for 10 days with 3 of his other Aussie friends (who happened to be obnoxious). I had taken Ben, his friends, and another Ben who happens to be the owner of The Point, Cusco to Creamfields, an electronic music festival in Lima. I approached him with a hug and received a kiss on the cheek. It was really neat to see a familiar face! We briefly chatted as I started to feel light headed. I didn't finish my soup and headed to a comfortable couch in the bar for my second nap of the day. I woke up at 2:20 and Jason and I went down to reception to check in. I was asked how long I had been working at The Point in Lima to which I replied 4 months and was told I got a free night of accommodation-ha! I had made a reservation online for a room with 6 beds as opposed to 14 because I knew that Jason and I weren't going to be partying a lot which is what The Point chain is famous for. We were assigned to a room named Jaegermeister with 3 bunk beds, a private bathroom with a shower, AND it happens to be the furthest room from all the happenings of this infamous party hostal. Luckily the noise from the bar and the garden outside wasn't a problem for Jason for obvious reasons, and thanks to Franny (love you mom!) I have a lifetime supply of noise-canceling wax I can put in my ears that form to the shape of my openings so as to muff any noise. Great purchase! After checking in and settling down I took another nap and decided to be social by 6pm. I went into the bar and was invited to play pool with an attractive Argentinian so of course I didn't hesitate to kick his butt. After winning, I was challenged to a game by a friend of the Argentinian and proceeded to kick his butt as well. Guy # 3 decided to take a stab at beating me and was successful. Twice! I left the bar and strolled around the hostal until settling down in the garden outside of our dorm room with about 8 Argentinian guys traveling on Summer break from university. We had conversations in Spanish and I was repeatedly complimented on my speaking skills- swoon! The Argentinians had purchased a drum and a guitar in Bolivia and so I didn't hesitate to request a concert from these handsome, Spanish-speaking, blue-eyed twenty-something backpackers. What I got was magnificent! Six songs in Spanish sung by the entire group with enthusiasm. I decided to head to bed at midnight because I wanted to be well-rested for a day of adventures come Tuesday. I was awakened Tuesday morning by Jason at 10am asking me to be ready in 30 minutes so we could share a cab with 3 Aussies for our day's adventure; bungee jumping! Don't worry- I knew I wasn't going to participate as it hasn't even been a year since my back surgery so I volunteered to document everyone's experience with their designated cameras. The 5 of us took the 15 minute taxi ride to Poroy where a facility had been set up for various extreme sporting activities including bungee jumping. Jason, Leigh, Monica, and Andy all had made reservations for this exciting excursion and we were the only occupants of the park at the time. Everyone was given paperwork to sign including providing a fingerprint and we walked along the grassy area to prepare for the event. The park had a farm next to it where cows and sheep were grazing the fields under the perfectly blue sky doused with a few clouds. The temperature was perfect as the sun was strong but the air was cool. The jump was 120 meters (384 feet) and Leigh was the only one of the group who had bungee jumped before- in new Zealand, where his jump was manipulated so his head was dunked into the river below him. Each jump was successfully smooth and no one died or got hurt! The participants received free shirts and we hopped onto a bus that would take us back into the main square of Cusco. The ride back was magnificent in that the views of the mountains decorated with shanty towns were serene and a very different change of scenery from the gray sky and smelly streets of Lima. We were dropped off at a bus terminal and being the only Spanish speaker of the group, I managed to get directions to the main plaza. We stopped along the way in various markets doused with parts and organs sitting on tables, fully intact dead chickens, and even a case of guinea pigs ready for preparation. We made our way into a more pleasant-smelling market with both familiar and exotic fruit where Jason and I bought 2 mandarins, 3 star fruits, and a bunch of sugar bananas for 5 Soles ($1.88). We found our way to more dead animals including whole pigs and llama parts. After browsing this large open market set up in a warehouse type building, the 5 of us wandered down a busy street looking for a place to stop for lunch. I saw a sign for 'menu' , a popular way to eat lunch in Peru which allows the customer to choose an appetizer and an entree from a list of options for just 7 Soles per person. We capped off our delicious and cheap lunches with a few Peruvian beers and decided to walk around the main plaza. Andy, Leigh and Monica went their separate ways for the afternoon finalizing a scheduled hike and Jason and I window shopped and bargained for some present he's bringing home for some important ladies in his life. We went back to the hostal just before 4pm to rest up before meeting back up with Aussies for dinner at 8pm. The 5 of us walked to Nuna Raymi, a restaurant recommended to us by a woman in reception which is well known for serving guinea pig- a delicacy that the Aussies eagerly wanted to try. Andy and Monica ordered guinea pig which was brought out whole with a pepper in its mouth so that we could take pictures. It was then brought back to our table cut into 4 pieces making it easier to consume. Jason ordered alpaca, Leigh had lomo saltado, and I had seco de res. Because we mentioned we were staying at The Point (something the receptionist said to do) we had 5 complimentary pisco sours AND got 10% off of our meal. After all of our discounts our bill came to 284 Soles which we were happy to pay for our delicious meal, bottle of red wine, appetizers, and 5 pisco sours. We walked back to the hostal in the cool air where we permanently parted ways with the Aussies, packed our bag for our departure for Machu Picchu (in 30 minutes) and went to bed at 11pm. I really like Cusco for its natural beauty and indigenous people who take pride in their culture. Jason and I will be at Machu Picchu for 2 days and I look forward to reporting back about our adventures in this wonder of the world!