5/27/15: Struggles in Cusco

I booked the night bus from Nazca to Cusco because I thought that it would save me money and be a great way to get through to the two cities. I'm not sure I was right on either account. The ticket was pretty expensive, but I can deal with that. The thing was that the bus was hot when I got on at Nazca, but I woke up at least twice during the night because it was so cold and I didn't have a blanket. Add on to that, I felt like I wanted to throw up when I woke up (I assume because of the motion sickness, but I've never had something that bad before). I tried to force myself to go back to sleep, though I'm not sure whether that was the right choice or not. Either way, I wasn't feeling too good. On the bright side, I got some beautiful pictures of the rural mountainside. They don't do it justice, but they are all I got.

When I finally arrived in Cusco, I took a taxi with two people who were traveling together. Coincidentally, they are originally from Taiwan but have lived in New Zealand and Australia - another Taiwan link! It was pretty awesome.

I was feeling a little better by the time I arrived at my hostel, but the sensations kind of shifted from wanting to throw up to a dull headache - from motion to altitude sickness. I can tell it's going to be a great time in Cusco these next couple days LOL. I walked to a nearby market with all kinds of artisan products, fresh foods, and a restaurant and got two and a half cups of a fresh-fruit smoothie for 6 soles (less than $2). The lady who sold it to me was very nice, and she basically took fruits that she had sitting on her stand and blended them right in front of me - apples, papaya, pineapple, banana, mango - and it was delicious. Worth it!

After that, I checked out the Plaza de Armas (beautiful as always, in the bottom picture) and a nearby cathedral (top picture) that didn't allow any pictures, but was grand and gorgeous just the same.

I decided to go to a walking tour that I had found advertised on a map from my hostel. There were 4 other people who joined along, and it was cool walking to an iconic wall apparently called the Hatun Rumiyoc, the natural Peruvian plants museum, the San Cristobal cathedral area, and then back to a restaurant for pisco sours. I wasn't able to capture too many pictures, but I loved that I could see the traditional Peruvian women's dress and alpacas/llamas randomly walking through the street. Seriously, only things you would see abroad.

By the time we all left the restaurant, it was dark and cold as hell. I was unprepared, thinking that the weather would be like that in other cities, and wore a thin short sleeve that left me freezing. Luckily, I made it back to the hostel, ate a coca candy (traditionally known for combating symptoms of altitude sickness to help get me through the night - it worked a little, even if it was placebo), and planned the next two days. I've got a pretty awesome itinerary lined up for tomorrow - I'll be meeting up with a friend from UT, and hopefully my mild/background headaches will be relieved by then! Here's to the new city and new friends within it.