My day numbering doesn’t coincide with the calendar, oh well.
Leaving a comfort zone can be tough, but leaving Lima wasn’t too bad since this was only a two night stay. I havent described our room. I will not go into detail, but think of it like a motel room in the older outskirt of town. Though the big city has some niceties, I know I want to see as much of the country as I can. Our plan for the day is only to shower, eat breakfast, walk a little, and fly to Cusco.
After a small and slightly orange banana, which was not as soft as a banana back home, we walked town slightly before finding a place to eat a more fulfilling meal. We went to Pan de Choco for their “amazing breads”. I had a feta and such sandwhich that was… okay… the coffee was great, so that was the plus.
We walked a little bit, saw a few buildings and just enjoyed the weather.
Summer and I decided one of the items to spend a little extra money on would be taxis. Through an app for the iPhone, we hailed a cab and for S/.40 we got to the airport. If you are wondering, the S/. stands for Nuevo Sols. Currently, the exchange rate is $1 equals S/.3.38. When we buy something, I simply divide the Sols by three to simplify the exchange rate for myself.
Domestic flights here are easy to navigate and the airport had a resemblance to the airport in Cape Town. One MAJOR difference. I was not allowed to bring a newly purchased hot coffee onto the plane. I sadly had to throw away my delicious coffee… sad day.
The airplane was nice and new and was an lot better than any Spirit flight I’ve been on. They even served drinks and snacks!
The yellow drink is called Inka Cola and tasted like bubble gum. the Inka Corn is a large kerbal corn nut type snack. I don’t like corn nuts, but these were easier to chew.
Here’s a bit of fact that is left out of travel guides and websites. Everything is built to confuse and trap tourists. Our train tickets to Machu Pichu (MP) don’t actually take us to MP. Cusco just has the airport and a location to pick up our train reservations. The train will get us from Ollantaytambo to “Machu Pichu” but that is a lie. It actually gets us to Aguas Calientes. There is a problem here. Cusco had the airport, meaning we need a bus to Ollantaytambo. Because of this crazy we decided to do the following:
- Spend 1 night in Cusco
- Spend 1 night in Ollantaytambo
- Train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Caliente
- Bus to Machu Pichu
- bus from MP to AC then train to Ollantaytambo
Get all that? I will be honest, it is crazy and annoying that the train is advertised as the only way to get to MP in the rainy season (now). This is not true, but the train is the most efficient and time effective way there. The train also leads you to believe that is all you need, but there is a final bus. All in all, many steps, quite confusing, lots of added costs in each step, and I am 100% sure it is worth it.
Another trap are the taxis. Outside every airport is a herd of very forward cab drivers that may or may not be legit. they might be cheaper than others, but who knows. When we exited Cusco airport, drivers were literally nudging, pushing, and even hitting each other to gain tourist’s attention. We hailed a cab via the app and had to continually tell the other cabs “no gracias”. Most of them had to be told more than once.
Food!
I’ll end today’s blog with food. Our travel guide mentions some Andean food unique to the area. We managed to find a place. Summer ordered some sort of chicken dish. I ordered Cuy. The third image might be disturbing, so please brace yourselves.
The local beer was pretty good. It is a Golden Lager.
The little dish of bean looking things are actually lightly fried corn kernals. I don’t remember the name though…
Cuy is guinea pig… yes. I ate an animal that I typically a pet to some, below is the semi-tasty dish.
It was unique. Not chicken, not pork… I don’t think I’ll ever order it again though. Perhaps I should have ordered the Alpaca dinner…