Peru, finally (Part 1)

Machu Picchu, blah, blah, blah

I need to post this in parts or I will never get it done.

I arrived in Peru on July 13th and spent the night in the Lima airport drinking beer to get me through the night. I was behind this guy from Oregon at the ATM when he left his Visa/ATM card in the machine (one of my biggest fears). He had no money, no plane ticket, and no clue what he was going to do. He said he was checking his balance and just spaced out. I saw him walk away and tried to grab his card but it was too late. I gave him 60 Soles ($20) and wished him luck.


The flight from Lima to Cusco was pretty amazing. The views I mean. Sunrise over the Andes was spectacular. I sat next to a couple of really cool people from Medellin, Colombia. They own a restaurant and invited me to come to Medellin. They said they would make it easy for me if I was worried about anything (why would anyone be worried about going to Colombia?).


Got into Cusco at 7 AM and was picked up by a super cool girl who worked at my hostel. Turns out she would be one of only two who were super cool there. The rest were borderline nasty. One girl who worked the front desk faked being nice and one couldn't even muster fake niceness. She was horrendous. Bitch. The rest of them ranged from weird to ice cold. The rooms were nice and the showers were awesome (something you learn to appreciate and ask about as you travel). They were so good that I let people I met who were staying in less desirable places use my shower. It's funny now how many people I have talked to who have used or let others use their showers. It's very common out on the road. However, the people who work in the place one stays make a huge difference. I was not impressed. I eventually moved after I met some people but I can't do the full time backpacker/hostel scene. Too old for that. I have to do more of a hybrid thing. Maybe I will do a hostel (even a dorm) for a couple of days and spend $8 or $9 on a room but then I need to go hide out somewhere and get some privacy (and perhaps a better shower and/or internet connection). I did all of the above in Cusco.


My second day in Cusco I was sitting in the Irish Pub and the most beautiful Peruvian girl sits down next to me. Joanna Vasquez from Lima. I won't go into details but I will say that she "showed me around" Cusco for the next five days during which I didn't go to bed before 5 AM. At the end of all that, having no sleep and being at 11000 feet, I had a respiratory infection. I remember hearing this guy at the hostel cough every morning when I first woke up thinking "that dude's got tuburculosis or something." Then I noticed so many other people coughing. I called it "the Cusco cough." Then I got it. Joanna went back to Lima and I was unable to breathe or sleep for the next four days and didn't recover until I arrived here, in Arequipa. Cusco and Puno were both coooold and very high (Puno is at 12000 feet). I came down here to 6000 feet and nice weather and instantly felt better. I had no energy for weeks, even though I was outside hiking etc. Met some good people in Cusco, including Joanna's friends, Gretal and Christina as well as Peter from Denmark, Ursula and Gabriella from Brazil, Roos (Rose) from the Netherlands, and the Ica crew (Sebastien, Santiago, and Alex). A couple of good expats too - mainly Richard Nisbett who I shared many beers and good stories with at the pub. Roos and Ursula were especially good finds. Good people.