Peru vs. Ecuador

No, I’m not writing about an upcoming soccer match, or any other type of competition between the two countries.  Following my recent trip to Peru, I’ve been thinking a lot about a trip I took to Ecuador exactly two years earlier, and the experiences I had as a woman traveling alone in these two South American countries.  My trip to Ecuador was the first time I had done this type of traveling by myself, so I was nervous about what the experience would be like.  When I went to Peru I was less worried about my ability to handle a trip by myself, but was concerned about other factors, including if I would be affected by altitude and if everything would go smoothly with the tour company that had arranged all my transportation, hotels and tours.

What I learned, first and foremost, is that I am an independent traveler.  I found that when I went to Peru, I missed the planning that goes into such a trip.  Even though it was easy having everything arranged for me, I wish that I had been able to research and book my own hotels, and decide how I was going to spend each day.  I missed the sponteneity of being able to decide what to do as I went along.  I had these hesitations before booking the trip, but it seemed like I was getting such a good deal on the package, that it made the most sense to do it this way.  Overall, I had a good experience with both Southfares.com in the US as well as their local counterpart, Rainbow Trail Tours in Peru.  It’s just not my style to have everything planned out for me.  I’m too much of a control freak for that.

I also learned that I like to move at a more leisurely pace than I imagine most organized tour packages allow.  I love having the time to really get to know a city, sit in a café or park, or stroll around without feeling rushed.  I was able to do this in Quito, and planned my trip to Ecuador with Quito as a base, doing some day trips from there as well as a 2 night excursion to Baños, and then back to Quito.  In Peru I constantly felt that I was rushing from city to city without sufficient time to explore any of them.

Peru is a fascinating country with a very well-developed tourism infrastructure.  Ecuador is a beautiful country with a lot to see and do, but it seems to me that their tourism industry is not yet developed  beyond its earliest stages.  In some ways that is a bonus.  It means that it’s cheaper, less crowded, and the experience of traveling can feel more authentic.  I loved taking local buses around Ecuador, talking to locals and seeing a glimpse of normal, everyday life.  In Peru, to get from place to place, I was either on a plane, a tourist bus or a tourist train.  Of course, this is also partly a function of the size of Peru and the amount of distance that I covered in a fairly short amount of time.  My opportunity to meet and interact with local people was limited.

In terms of the countries themselves and what they have to offer, I loved both of them.  In Peru, the highlight was definitely Machu Picchu, although I loved Lake Titicaca, Cusco and Lima as well.  Ecuador has spectacular natural beauty, a beautiful and well-preserved colonial city in Quito, an amazing market in Otovalo, and the charming small town of Baños.

I also lucked out in Ecuador by meeting wonderful travel companions.  When I first arrived at my hotel in Quito, I met Antonio, an Ecuadorian-American who was traveling around the country visiting family.  He left Quito the day after I arrived, but I had told him about my plans to go to Baños later in my trip, and to my surprise, when I checked in at my hotel in Baños , the owner informed me that “your friend is already here.”  I didn’t know what he was talking about at first, and it took me a few minutes to remember the conversation I had had a few days earlier with Antonio about my travel plans.  Also staying at the same hotel was Manuela, an Italian woman who lives in New York, and the three of us had a lot of fun exploring Baños together for a few days.  There was also an Ecuadorian guy that I met on the bus from Quito to Baños who I went out to lunch with, and an Irish tourist that I spent one evening with.  Meeting interesting people while traveling makes the entire experience a richer one.  It’s also nice to have company for meals, and that was something that I missing in Peru.  I did meet a few people, mostly on tours, but then never saw them again.  I had a great time going out for a drink in Lima with 3 other travelers I had met on an evening tour, but unfortunately they all left the following day.  My hotels in Peru were more upscale than in Ecuador, and ironically enough, I think that made it more difficult to meet people.  I have found that in budget or backpacker-type hotels, it is much easier to meet fellow travelers than in higher priced hotels.

So, to recap, I loved both Ecuador and Peru and both countries are well worth visiting.  But for the reasons I described above, I enjoyed my trip to Ecuador just a little bit more.  Sorry, Peru!

Peru part 9 — Lima

Since I had spent so much of Thursday (12/3/09) at the Cusco airport, I didn’t have as much time to sightsee in Lima as I had anticipated.  I decided to stick to Miraflores, the neighborhood where I was staying and then use Friday to explore other areas of the city.  I headed to a street near my hotel that was known for shopping, Avenida Petit Thouars.  I found a lot of the same type of artisan markets that I had seen throughout the country, but I still needed to pick up a few gifts, so I spent some time there.  Then I headed down a major street, Avenida Larco, to the LarcoMar shopping center, which struck me as a generic dining/shopping/entertainment mecca.  Think South Street Seaport or Fisherman’s Wharf.  It’s right on the water, which is kind of nice, and there’s some grass as you approach, where I saw some cute cow sculptures, which were all over Lima.  I was also very excited to find a branch of the Argentinian shop, Havanna, where I treated myself to a chocolate covered alfajor.  Yum!  I then headed back on Avenida Larco in the direction of my hotel.  I had noticed that this street had many seemingly upscale clothing shops.  I had heard from quite a few people that I should buy a baby alpaca sweater, and since I was nearing my trip, I felt that I could finally splurge a little.  So I went into a few stores and finally found one that I liked (and for 30% off; I can never resist a bargain).  I went to the hotel to rest for a while before heading out again.

I decided to take a night tour of Lima.  There are double-decker bus tours every evening at 6 and 7 PM, leaving from Parque Kennedy, right near my hotel.  I bought a ticket for the 7:00 PM tour, and told myself that I wasn’t completely exhausted.  Tired as I was, I am so glad that I went, because I had a great time.  First we went to a park called Parque de la Reserva to see the “Circuito Mágico del Agua.”  This is a series of 13 fountains that are completely original and really fabulous.  One has a laser light show accompanied by music.  It’s really difficult to describe.  Check out their website to get a better idea:  http://www.circuitomagicodelagua.com.pe/ (I’m not sure if the link is working but it’s worth Googling it if it’s not).  While at the park, a young guy who was also on the tour asked me to take a picture of him.  This turned out to be Arturo, from Ecuador, who was also traveling alone, and we started to chat.   The next stop on the tour was a coffee break at the Sheraton Hotel in Lima, which is a luxury 5 star hotel (much more upscale that most Sheratons that I’ve seen).  I sat at a table with my new friend Arturo and we were joined by Rosario from Uruguay and Eli from Israel, who were both also traveling alone in Peru for business.  The four of us all got along really well and it made the rest of the tour especially enjoyable.  Following the snack, the bus drove through the colonial area of Lima.  The historic buildings were beautifully lit and the city was starting to be decorated for Christmas, so it was quite lovely.

When the tour was over, my 3 new friends and I decided to go out for a Pisco Sour.  This is the national drink of Peru, and I had not tried it yet.  In fact, I hadn’t had any alcohol because I had been traveling until this point at high altitudes, and drinking exacerbates the effects of altitude sickness.  After walking around looking for a bar recommended by the tour guide that we were unable to find, we ended up a place called Cafe Haiti, which is an old and famous cafe, right in the center of Miraflores.  While not a bar, it had a perfect atmosphere and the most delicious Pisco Sours.  I only had one but that was more than enough.  That is a seriously strong drink.  We had such a good time all getting to know each other and enjoying our drinks that I didn’t want the evening to end.  Unfortunately everyone but me was leaving Peru the following day so I didn’t get to see any of them again.  It turned out to be a great end to what started as a very aggravating day (see previous post for details).

Friday (12/4/09) I had the entire day to myself to explore Lima.  Since my trip up until now had been so tightly scheduled, and I had spent countless hours getting from place to place, this felt like a real luxury.  My first stop was a coffee date with Ariel, a childhood friend of my boyfriend, Ricardo.   We met at a modern, upscale cafe called Delicass in the San Isidro neighborhood.  This cafe would not have been out-of-place on the Upper West or Upper East Side of Manhattan.  I was planning on having some breakfast-type food, since the breakfast at my hotel was just a roll with butter and jam, mediocre coffee, and juice.  However, Ariel really wanted me to try a typical Peruvian pastry made with lúcuma.  I had already tried lúcuma in a smoothie in Cusco, and really didn’t like it much, but I Ariel was insistent and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.   The strange fruit actually was much better in a pastry with chocolate.  I also had my first  cup of really good coffee in Peru.   Ariel is a very smart and interesting guy and I enjoyed meeting him and learning about his life in Lima.  He grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and came to Peru to study the Jewish community of Iquitos (in the Amazon).

Following our meeting, I took a taxi to the center of Lima.  Normally I prefer to take local buses or subways than taxis when I travel but in Lima, taxis seem to be the only reasonable option.  The city is enormous with quite possibly the worst traffic I have ever experienced.  It took me about 45 minutes to get from the cafe to the Plaza Mayor, right in the heart of historic Lima.  I can only imagine how long it would have taken if I had tried to take a bus.  My first destination was the changing of the guard in front of the Palacio de Gobierno (Presidential Palace) that takes place every morning.  Ariel didn’t even know they have a changing of the guard and warned me not to expect anything like at Buckingham Palace.  But this was recommended by the  English/Australian family that I had met in Aguas Calientes, and I figured they knew about these things.  It was actually quite elaborate and was fun to watch.

Next I went to the Catedral, located around the same central plaza.  The 10 soles admission fee included a guided tour.  Just as I entered, a tour was starting in Spanish.  I decided to join it, rather than explore on my own or wait for an English tour.  To my pleasant surprise, I understood basically everything the guide said.  The cathedral was beautiful and it was the only church I visited in all of Peru where I was allowed to take pictures, which was an added bonus.

My next stop was the church and convent of San Francisco.  Again, the admission fee included a guided tour (again in Spanish) which was extremely interesting.  The church has an underground crypt, only discovered in 1951, which contains the skulls and bones of 70,000 people.  It was fascinating and more than a little bit creepy.  Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed in the church or on the grounds.

After all of this sightseeing, I was starving and decided it was time for lunch.  I ended up at a restaurant called Roky’s that wasn’t quite a fast food place, since there was waiter service, but appeared to be a Peruvian chain restaurant.   I had a typical meal of salchipapa (french fries and cut up hot dogs served together) with a fried egg, and a chicha morada (purple corn drink).  The drink was great and the food was greasy.

I continued walking around downtown Lima, ending up at the Plaza San Martin, which was pleasant but somewhat anticlimactic after the more beautiful Plaza Mayor.  From there, I took a taxi back to Miraflores, getting out the Parque del Amor, which I had missed the day before.  This is a beautiful park right on the water, with a large sculpture of a couple embracing and tiled benches, which all have quotations relating to love.  It reminded me of the Parc Guell in Barcelona.  From there, I walked back to my hotel to rest and decide what to do in the evening.

This was going to be my last night of my vacation.  I kind of felt that I should go out, but didn’t want to go to a nice restaurant, bar or club by myself.  Ariel had invited me to a Shabbat dinner with some friends of his, and at first I didn’t think I wanted to go.  But once I was back at my hotel, I decided that would be a nice way to spend the evening.  I called to ask if it was still OK if I went, he called his friends and told me it would be fine.  He gave me directions for how to get there by taxi, and said he would meet me at the apartment at 8:45  PM.  The dinner was at the home of the matriarch of a lovely family.  Also present where her 2 middle-aged daughters, one son–in-law, and 4 grandchildren, ranging in age from 16 to early 20’s.  They couldn’t have been more gracious and welcoming.  Everyone spoke English for my benefit, even though I insisted that they didn’t have to.  After seeing so much poverty throughout Peru, it was interesting to see a different way of life.  One of the grandsons even drove me back to my hotel, although it was completely out of his way.  It turned out to be a lovely way to spend my last evening.

On Saturday (12/5/09) I had a scheduled pick up at 12:15 to go to the airport for my flight back to New York.  I suppose I could have done some more sightseeing early that morning, but I was kind of out of steam.  I just went to an internet cafe, strolled around Miraflores a bit, and went to a cafe to relax for a while.  My trip home was uneventful and later that night I was in my apartment in New York, my whirlwind trip to Peru just a memory.

Peru part 8 — Cusco to Lima

On Thursday (12/3/09) Evelin and the driver picked me up at my hotel in Cusco at 7:30 AM to take me to the airport for my 9:00 AM flight to Lima.  According to my boarding pass, I was supposed to be at the airport 90 minutes before the departure time, but Evelin had assured me that 1 hour was sufficient and it was only 15 or 20 minutes to the airport, so I would be fine.  Before I had actually booked the trip, my itinerary indicated that I would be on a 9:52 AM flight.  Once I paid and received my confirmation, I saw that the flight had been changed to one at 7:27 AM.  I really didn’t see any reason go so early, since I had that entire day and the following one to explore Lima, with my flight back to New York on Saturday afternoon.  I had asked Ramiro (the travel agent in California with whom I had booked my trip) several times if he would be able to get me on a slightly later flight, and he kept saying he would get back to me, which he never did.  I left for Peru without knowing if the flight had been changed.  Once I arrived in Lima, I learned that I was on a 9:00 AM flight, which I was very happy about at the time.  Changing my flight turned out to be a big mistake!

I arrived at the airport a few minutes before 8:00 AM and learned that my flight was delayed until noon.  It’s only a 1 hour flight from Cusco to Lima, and there are flights just about every hour or so.  I begged (in Spanish) at the ticket counter to be changed to an earlier flight, but the agent kept repeating that all earlier flights were booked.  I talked to other passengers who were in the same boat, and nobody knew what to do.  I felt particularly bad for one woman who had a noon meeting in Lima that she was going to miss unless she got her flight changed.  The agent just kept insisting that there was nothing they could do, but that there would be food for all of the delayed passengers at the gate.  I have to say, despite being so aggravated, I was very appreciative of  how helpful random people were at the airport.  One man helped me to use a pay phone so I could call the travel agency to change the time of my transfer from the airport to my hotel in Lima.   Another man showed me where there was an internet cafe across the street.  I thought that would be a good way to kill some time, but it turned out that the computers there were extremely slow, and after about 45 minutes I lost patience and returned to the airport.

I went back to the ticket counter and pleaded with a different agent (again, in Spanish) to be put on an earlier flight.  She suggested going to the gate and putting my name on a waitlist for an earlier flight.  I went to the gate and learned that the scheduled departure for my flight was changed from noon to 12:30 PM.  I kept getting more and more frustrated.  I had planned out my entire day in Lima–there was no way I was going to have time to do all that I wanted to.   I talked to an agent at the gate who took my name and said he would put me on the waitlist for a 10:30 AM flight.  I also asked him about this food that we had been promised and was told it was on its way.  As the 10:30 flight was boarding, I kept an eye out at the activity at that gate.  I then went over to a different agent to see if there was any way I could get on that flight.  He said it was completely full, and didn’t see my name on the waitlist.  At this point, I started to get really agitated.  I just felt so frustrated that everyone seemed to be giving me lip service, and that nobody was actually trying to help.  Well, this poor guy got the brunt of my frustration. I just started yelling at him (again, in Spanish) that I had been at the airport since before 8:00 AM, nobody tells you anything, I was supposed to be on a waitlist, but wasn’t,  for 2 hours they were promising food, but there wasn’t any, etc, etc.  This was either a really nice agent, or else I was behaving so crazily that he decided he better do what he can to make me go away.  Next thing I know, he was talking into a walkie-talkie, then he told me that he got me on a flight at 11:40 AM.  Not great, but better than 12:30 PM.  I asked him about my luggage, which I had checked, and he told me that he would make sure my luggage got on that same flight.  Then 2 minutes later, someone else came up to me with 2 box lunches.  I also asked the nice agent if I could make a call (because I had to change my pickup again) and he even gave me a phone card!  Again, did I just finally luck out with someone who was more inclined to be helpful, or was my behavior so scary?  We’ll never know.  I guess the moral of the story is that it never hurts to be persistent.  Another tactic that might have worked was telling the first agent at the ticket counter that I had a connecting international flight that same day (which wasn’t actually the case).  Honestly, it had crossed my mind to do that, but I assumed they would have asked to see confirmation of that flight and I would have been busted.

Once I got on the plane the flight was quick and uneventful.  My luggage actually made it on the plane with me, a driver was waiting for me at the airport, and I was at the Hotel Esperanza around 2:30 PM, ready to begin exploring Lima.

Peru part 7 — Machu Picchu: Expectations and Assumptions

I had wanted to visit Machu Picchu for a long time and it was the primary focus of this trip to Peru.  But as it got closer, I started to worry that I would be disappointed.  Would it live up to the hype?  When you build something up in your mind, there is always that risk.  The more you travel, the more it takes to impress.  Those were my thoughts as my visit to this historic site approached.  Well, I didn’t have to worry.  It really was everything I had hoped it would be and I was blown away.

My day started with breakfast at the hotel.  I started talking to the only other diners in the restaurant and ended up joining  them for breakfast.  They were a family from England who were spending the year traveling around South and Central America with their 5-year-old daughter.  Pretty incredible.

I headed to the bus stop at 7:00 AM, as I told to do so by the guide yesterday.  I expected to find a long line of people waiting to board the bus, but instead found the bus waiting to fill up with passengers before it left.  It was a twisty ride up switchbacks  on the side of a mountain to the entrance of Machu Picchu.  I was a bit early so I took that opportunity to go to the bathroom.  (There are none beyond the entrance.  They also actually charge a fee to use them, which I found kind of shocking.)  Just outside the entrance, all of the guides of the organized groups wait with different colored flags for the members of their groups to arrive.  My guide was Pedro, while  James, who I had met the night before, was the guide for the Spanish speakers in the group.  I totally lucked out on this tour.  Pedro was a great guide, provided so much interesting information about the ruins and spoke very good English.  Furthermore, it was  a very friendly group overall.   The weather also cooperated for most of the day (it was rainy season, but it didn’t start to rain until around 1:30 PM).  Although it was cloudy and foggy early in the day, the fog lifted and I was able to get some beautiful pictures.  This is really one of the most spectacular places that I have ever visited.  There are llamas strolling about throughout, adding to the magical atmosphere.  Just thinking about how long ago this city was built and it’s history gave me goosebumps.  The Spaniards never discovered Machu Picchu, which is why it is so well preserved.  The other thing that is amazing to think about is how many other lost cities there might be throughout Central and South America.  Machu Picchu was only discovered in 1911.

The tour lasted about 2 hours, and it was so interesting.  Pedro, our guide, was of Inca descent and his pride in what his ancestors had created was apparent.  I asked him if he stops being in awe or if it remains special despite going there day after day.  He said that even for him, it is truly magnificent.   On the tour, I spent quite a bit of time with a family comprised of a father, daughter and son-in-law.  They were Mormons from Utah and all 3 of them had spent time in Peru as Mormon missionaries.  Based on my own prejudices, I was prepared not to like them but they were all so warm and kind that I found my assumptions being challenged.  At one point in the tour, we crossed paths with a group of Peruvian senior citizens who were moving at a much slower pace.  One elderly woman, in particular, was having a very hard time and was terrified to go down some fairly steep rocks.  The father of the Mormon family held her hand and very slowly and patiently helped her descend.  Afterward, she was so appreciative, that she started crying and kissing him, then she and her tour guide wanted to take pictures with him.  It was truly a special moment.  Besides that family, I also met Francine, from Quebec City and Ken from Vancouver who were traveling together.   Francine is a retired teacher who was spending around 4 months traveling around South America and Ken is a retired police officer who joined her for part of her vacation.  They had met in Mexico on a previous trip.  Francine has traveled extensively all over the world and was truly an inspiration.

Around 10 AM, Pedro said goodbye to the group and we were free to explore on our own.  I was taking the train from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco later that day, so I needed to leave Machu Picchu by around 2 PM.  I asked Francine and Ken if I could join them for a while, and they said sure.  This was their second day there, so they had already seen a lot.  First we went back to the entrance because they wanted to buy a snack, and I, of course, needed to use the bathroom again.  Then we decided to set off for the Sun Gate, which Pedro had told us would be a 1 hour hike up, and another hour back.  The Sun Gate is the entrance to the Machu Picchu complex for those who hike the Inca Trail, and apparently the view in the morning when the sun rises is quite breathtaking.  It turned out to be more like an hour and a half up, and Ken only made it about halfway.  Although it wasn’t a scary hike, since it’s all steps made from rocks, it was a steady trek uphill at high altitude.  There were a few points when I was ready to turn around, but Francine, who was quite a bit older than me, insisted that we make it to the top.  When we arrived we were rewarded with stunning views of all of Machu Picchu as well as the town of Aguas Calientes.  There wasn’t much left of the structure at the top of the climb but the views made it worth it.  I also learned that on June 22, the summer solstice, the sun shines over Machu Picchu in such a way that the shadows form the shape of a puma, which can be seen from this vantage point.  Francine and I rested for a while at the top, took some pictures and retraced our steps.  We picked  up Ken where we left him and went back to the main part of the complex.  By this time, it was starting to rain.  I only had about 30 minutes more to spend there before I needed to catch the bus back to Aguas Calientes, but didn’t want to wander off too far, since I have a tendency to get lost.  I also didn’t really want to walk around too much in the rain, so I decided to just head back.  I said goodbye to Francine and Ken, and returned to the town.

Since I got back earlier than I needed to, due to the rain, I found myself with time to kill in Aguas Calientes.   I decided to get something to eat, and went back to the same restaurant where I had eaten the day before, and to my delight, I saw my little friend, Flor de Maria.  She had just gotten out of school for the day, and was on her way home (by herself) to change out of her uniform.  Once again, I was struck by the independence of such young children.  It’s a necessity that they grow up faster than kids in the US, but it was hard for me to see such a little girl having to be so grown up.

Before long, it was time to head to the train station.  To get there, it is necessary to walk through a craft market–shrewd planning, and slightly dangerous.  I demonstrated remarkable self-control and only bought a wall hanging.

Once again, I had a backward facing aisle seat on the train.  When I boarded, the only other passenger in my  section of 4 seats was an older woman who only spoke French.  Then a young kid sat down diagonally across from me, and when I mentioned something about sitting backward both ways, he offered to change seats with me.  So I ended up having a forward facing window seat after all!  Not that I could see much, as it started to get dark shortly after we left, but it was very sweet of him.  The kid was a missionary from Oklahoma who had been in Peru building an orphanage.  He was friendly and talkative but kind of odd.  Rounding out our group was a very nice woman from Holland.  Her husband and adult son were sitting across the aisle, opposite a young couple from Arizona.  Aside from the French woman, who didn’t speak a word of English, and the Dutch woman’s son, who wasn’t feeling well and mostly slept, it was a very friendly group of travelers.

When I arrived at Poroy station, Evelin was there to meet me and she and the driver accompanied me back to my hotel in Cusco.   The next morning I was to be picked up at 7:20 AM for my flight back to Lima.  I was tired but happy that I had spent such an amazing day at a very special place.

Peru part 6 — Cusco to Aguas Calientes

On Tuesday (12/1/09) Evelin and a driver picked me up at 6:50 AM to take me to Poroy Station (about 20 minutes from Cusco) where I boarded the train to Aguas Calientes, which is the closest town to the ruins of Machu Picchu.  One thing that struck me about this journey, as well as other experiences that I’ve had in Peru is how well-developed the country’s tourism industry is.

The station in Poroy was clean, modern and well-organized.  All announcements were in English. The trains were also new and efficient.  Since I had booked my entire trip through a travel agent, I didn’t know until I arrived at each place how much each separate component cost.  The price for the 3 hour train ride from Poroy to Aguas Calientes was $41 each way.  And that was for the cheapest of the trains, “The Backpacker.”  There is also the “Vistadome” which I believe is just over $70 each way.  These are Amtrak-like prices!  I don’t think there is much difference between these 2 trains, except better views on the Vistadome and complementary snacks.  These trains are exclusively for tourists, and there are other trains for locals (which I imagine are significantly cheaper) that tourists are not allowed to use.  In a completely different class is the Hiram Bingham which is over $300 each way and is styled like an old-fashioned train, with gourmet meals and drinks included, along with a guided tour of Machu Picchu.  It looks VERY nice:  http://www.perurail.com/web/tper/tper_luxurytravel_introduction.html Maybe next time…

The entrance fee for Machu Picchu is 124 soles (about $41).  The 30 minute bus ride from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu is $7 each way.  The ticket for the 4 ruins outside of Cusco was 70 soles (which was part of my prepaid tour).  The Cathedral in Cusco was 25 soles.  In fact, just about every church in Peru charged an admission fee, which is something that had not experienced in other Latin American countries.  These are very high prices for a third world country.  I didn’t mind paying but I would like to know where my tourist dollars are going.  Is it just to further develop the tourism industry?  Or is it to help the poor of Peru?  Because the poverty that  I saw everywhere is just heartbreaking.  Not that it was so different from what I observed in other Latin American countries, but the difference was that I never paid so much to travel in other developing countries.  In Ecuador or Costa Rica, a 4 hour bus ride costs the equivalent of about $4, a far cry from $41 for a 3 hour train ride.

The train ride to Aguas Calientes was a lot of fun.  The scenery is breathtaking as you pass through the Andean mountains.  The seats are in groups of 4, 2 facing forward and 2 backward.  Not only was I in a backward facing seat, I was also on the aisle.  I was disappointed not to be able to easily look out the window, but I could still see.  I was seated opposite a young couple from France who didn’t speak much English or Spanish.  At first the window seat next to me was empty, so I was hoping either to be able to move there, or if not, to have someone interesting to talk to.  Finally, a young, blonde, blue-eyed girl took the seat.  German?  Scandinavian?  Maybe she spoke some English?  I have to say, I was quite surprised to find that my seatmate, Katherine, was from Paraguay.  She was lovely, an attorney who works for the supreme court of Paraguay in a project of the OAS (Organization of American States).  She was in Peru for work, and decided to visit Machu Picchu.  Like me, she loves to travel and we had a good time chatting during the train ride.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see her again because she was heading to Machu Picchu and then returning to Cusco that same day, and I was going the following day.

When I arrived at Aguas Calientes, someone was waiting for me at the train station with a sign with the name of my hotel.  He took my overnight bag (I was able to leave my suitcase in the hotel in Cusco) and we set off on foot for the Hotel Presidente.  Aguas Calientes is a very small town, and there are no cars or buses, with the exception of the buses that go back and forth to Machu Picchu.  I was very happy to have the entire day to myself with nothing at all scheduled.  The hotel was definitely the most basic of the 4 that I stayed in during my visit to Peru.  It was also the only one without internet access.  I had a balcony with a beautiful view of a mountain and the river.  I relaxed in the room for a while, then set off to have lunch, which was included in my tour package.   It was a buffet restaurant with typical food and the by now ubiquitous Andean musicians.  Following lunch, I found an internet cafe, where I spent about 2 hours.  That was where I wrote the blog post that somehow disappeared, causing me to abandon blogging for the rest of my time on the road.  I think I will need to buy a mini-laptop before embarking on my next big trip.  I spent the remainder of the afternoon strolling around the little town and trying to rest a little bit.

At 7:00 PM I was scheduled to have an orientation meeting in the lobby of the hotel about my trip the next day to Machu Picchu.   At around 6:45, there was a knock on my door, and it was James, who would be one of the two guides for the tour the following morning.  James told me that I needed to take a bus at 7:00 AM and that the group would meet at 7:45 AM at the main entrance to the complex.  I was to look for Pedro, who would have a white flag.  He also told me to bring water and snacks (although neither food nor plastic water bottles are technically allowed, the ban is not enforced).  Food and drinks are sold only at the entrance gate and are very expensive.  I was also advised to bring sunscreen and bug repellent.  I had a 2 hour guided group tour and then would be free to explore Machu Picchu on my own the rest of the day.

Following the briefing, I went out to buy some snacks and decided to have dinner at a small pizzeria right next to my hotel.  I don’t know why, but pizza seemed to be the most popular offering in this little town.  I had a surprisingly good brick oven pizza with a smoothie for 15 soles ($5).  The best part of the meal was my sporadic companion, a charming 7-year-old, Flor de Maria, who was the daughter of my waitress, Charo.  I was in Peru during low season, and the restaurant was not terribly busy, so I  talked to both Charo and her daughter quite a bit.  I learned that she was a single mother who rents a room for her and her daughter for 200 soles/month ($70), and that she works 7 days a week and then has a few days off each month.  I couldn’t stop thinking about how different her life is than mine, and how hard she must struggle to be able to support herself and her daughter.  And she is probably lucky compared to many Peruvians.  After all, they have a place to live, she has a steady job, and her daughter doesn’t have to beg in the street.   Flor de Maria spends every evening in the restaurant while her mother works, and is comfortable talking to strangers, walking alone on the main street of the town, running into stores and visiting with friends.  Where kids in the US have so much and always seem to want more, this was the sweetest, happiest, most self-assured 7-year-old that I’ve met in a while.

After dinner, I headed back early to my hotel.  I was so excited about my trip to Machu Picchu the next morning!

Peru part 5 — Cusco (Or, Did I Try To Do Too Much?)

I arrived in Cusco on Sunday evening (11/29/09).  Although my hotel there, the Hotel Mabey Cusco, was lovely, it was fairly far from the center of town.   I was so exhausted when I arrived after my 9 hour bus ride from Puno, that the last thing I wanted to do was walk 20 minutes to get to downtown Cusco.   I found out from the hotel receptionist that there was a Chinese restaurant (or chifa, as they are known in Peru) across the street.  Perfect!  I went to the restaurant and cracked up when I looked at the menu, because I had absolutely no idea what anything was!  It reminded me of when I was in Costa Rica, where just about any noodle dish is known as Chop Suey.  Anyway, the waiter was extremely patient, and I ended up with a combination plate of chicken with some type of noodles, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and fried wontons.  This also came with a soda, all for the grand total of 18 soles (just over $6).  It definitely wasn’t the best Chinese food I had ever eaten, but it did the trick.  I found the experience itself entertaining.  I also liked the fact that it wasn’t touristy at all, since the hotel was so far off the beaten path.

The next day (Monday, 11/30/09) I didn’t have anything scheduled until 1:15 PM, when I was to be picked up at my hotel for a city tour.  Now, a normal person probably would have taken that opportunity to sleep late.  I, on the other hand, knew that the morning would be my only opportunity to explore Cusco on my own, and strolling around cities at my own pace is one of my favorite activities when I am traveling.  So I woke up early, even before my alarm, had breakfast at the hotel, and by 8:30 AM I was on my way.  I was able to take my time heading toward the Plaza de Armas, or the central square of Cusco.  It was very typical of colonial cities, with a small park with a fountain, surrounded by a cathedral and the old government buildings.  The old part of the city is very beautiful, and reminded me of Quito, Ecuador and Antigua, Guatemala.   I enjoyed just strolling around and decided not to go to any churches or museums, because that would be the focus of my afternoon tour.   I was happy just exploring at my own pace and soaking up the atmosphere of the city.  From the Plaza de Armas, I walked just north to the San Blas area, where I had heard there were some nice clothing shops.  I ended up buying a sweater from a young shopkeeper, who also made the sweaters.   The quality isn’t perfect, but I think that just adds to its charm!  It says on the label “100% Alpaca” but according to some people it probably isn’t pure alpaca, but more likely blended with synthetic fibers due to the price that I paid (40 soles, or around $14).  Whatever it’s made of, I like it, and it will always remind me of my morning in Cusco.  I continued my self guided tour of the city, walking south of the center past another church, San Francisco, stopping at the Mercado Central.  Most of you probably know that visiting traditional markets is one of my favorite activities when I travel.  I just wish I had had more time in the market.  I basically ran through it,  taking pictures of whole pigs, fruit, and whatever else was for sale.  I then stopped off for a snack at a juice bar called Yajúú (I think they were going for Yahoo!) where I tried a lúcuma  smoothie.  Lúcuma is a Peruvian fruit that the waitress described as similar to a mango, but I didn’t agree.  I didn’t really like it, but now I can say I tried lúcuma, right?  Since that didn’t completely satisfy me,  I then  stopped for an ice cream (some lunch, I know) and headed back to my hotel, where I had about an hour to rest before leaving for my afternoon city tour.

At 1:15 PM, right on schedule, Evelin met me at the lobby of the hotel.  She didn’t actually go with me on the tour, so I was starting to be a little confused about her role.  I finally realized that she was kind of like my facilitator while in Cusco.  There was always also a driver (and sometimes also a tour guide), but she seemed to just be there to make sure that everything was going smoothly.  I am not at all used to this type of hand holding when I travel and I’m still not exactly sure how I felt about it.   A few minutes after Evelin arrived, a small tour bus pulled up to the hotel.  I said goodbye to Evelin and got on the bus, where I was the first passenger.  We spent the next 45 minutes driving all through the narrow cobblestone streets of Cusco picking up people at their hotels.  Finally, we picked up our guide, Edith, and the tour started a little after 2:00 PM.   There were a total of 16 people on the tour, which was exclusively in English.  Edith was knowledgable about the sites that we visited and spoke passable English.  Our first stop was Qorikancha, which is a Spanish colonial church built over an Inca temple right in the center of Cusco.  It was interesting to see Inca ruins and structures side by side with colonial artwork.  The complex is huge and very impressive.  Next was a tour of the Cathedral, also in the center of Cusco.  For some reason, the 25 sol (approx. $8) entrance fee was not included in my tour, which was part of the package that I had bought from a travel agent.  Some people in the tour chose to skip the cathedral, but I had heard from several people that it was worth seeing.   It  was a beautiful, elaborately decorated church with lots of paintings from the Cusqueña school (17th and 18th centuries).   I was glad that I had the opportunity to visit it.  Following that, we headed to the outskirts of the city to visit some historical sites.  It was already getting late because we had spent so long picking people up and at the first two sites.  I was starting to get concerned about the time because I had to get back to the hotel for a 7:40 PM pickup to go to a dinner show.  The entire tour was supposed to last 4 hours, but that wasn’t seeming very likely to me.  I decided to just wait and see what going to happen.  First we went to Saqusayhuaman, which is a Inca ruin with beautiful views of Cusco.    It has some massive rock structures and we spent a good deal of time there.  Next we went to Puka Pukara, which was an Inca fortress.  We didn’t even enter the complex, but just stopped outside for some photos.  Then we went to Tambo Machay, a place where the Incas worshiped water, where we saw a fountain with spring water with rejuvenating powers.  The last stop was Q’enqo, another Incan ruin, with a cave that we were able to walk through. I felt that the visit to these four sites was very rushed, and although I have some nice pictures, that afternoon kind of feels like a blur to me now.  We probably finished the tour around 6 PM, and I thought we were about to head back to Cusco.  I asked the guide if I could be the first one dropped off, since I had something else already scheduled in the evening.  She said that she couldn’t do that, due to the location of my hotel, but would be able to put me in a taxi from downtown Cusco.  However, there was another surprise stop before we returned to Cusco.  The guide added on a visit to a jewelery and sweater factory.  This is one of those places where you go in, the salespeople offer you tea, they explain how the products are made, and then they try to sell you beautiful if overpriced merchandise.  This is the type of activity that I could find mildly enjoyable (after all, I do love to shop) or extremely annoying, depending on my mood.  Given that I had been running around Cusco since 8:30 AM and was trying to get back to my hotel with time to rest before another pre-scheduled activity, you can guess my reaction.  Luckily, it was a short visit at the factory, and we returned to Cusco, where true to her word, the guide put me in a taxi and sent me off to my hotel, where I had about 1/2 hour to get ready to leave again.

At 7:40 PM, I went down to the hotel lobby, where I met not Evelin, but her sister Amatista, who also worked for the same tour company.  A driver took Amatista and me to a restaurant, Don Antonio’s.  When we arrived at the restaurant, Amatista explained how it worked (buffet style, with 3 stations, for appetizers, main courses, and desserts).  It was really pretty self-explanatory and again I was wondering exactly why she was there.  Actually, it would have been nice if she could have stayed to have dinner with me, but that wasn’t how it worked.  The food was actually pretty good, especially for a buffet, and I even tried alpaca (kind of like lamb, but tougher).  I drew the line at trying guinea pig, however.  While I ate, there was a folkloric show with dancers in really beautiful costumes.  The only disappointment was that nobody narrated or explained anything about the different dances, but I do realize that I probably was the only one in the restaurant who would have been interested in hearing about that.  After the dancers performed, there were traditional Andean musicians.  In an unusual twist, they not only performed the typical selections of Andean flute music, but also their versions of some classical pieces.  The evening ended around 9:30 PM, and I took a taxi back to my hotel.  I was glad it wasn’t a late evening because I was getting picked up the next morning at 6:50 AM to continue my fast paced tour around Peru.

From the moment I booked this trip, I wondered if I would enjoy the experience of having everything prearranged.  There were times that I definitely missed the opportunity to be spontaneous and spend time the way I wanted to.  Although I enjoyed the sights that I saw on my tour as well as the dinner show, the constant rushing around and being tied to a schedule was difficult for me.  I am very happy that I had gotten up early that day and had the morning to explore Cusco on my own, rather than have my only experience of the city be as part of a group.

Brief Update

I started my trip to Peru planning to update this blog as I went along.  Things started out well.  In Puno I found an internet cafe with a fast connection and was able to post a few entries.  Then in Cusco my hotel had a fairly fast computer so I continued to update from there.  The problems started when I arrived at Aguas Calientes.   I had a free afternoon there before I would be going to Machu Picchu the following  morning, so I found an internet cafe in town and set out to write.  I spent about 2 hours writing a long blog post, as well as catching up on email and Facebook.  The computer was pretty slow and it seemed like it was taking a while for the blog post to appear on the site.  But eventually I saw it there, and was very happy with what I had written.  I also had a some ideas for another post, so I started scribbling some notes and saved that one as a draft.  Later on that afternoon, I went to another internet cafe, basically because I wanted to make sure that my draft entry did not accidently get posted on the blog site.  That one was fine, still saved as a draft, however, my long, completed post totally disappeared!  It wasn’t saved with my drafts,  nor was it posted on the site.  Just gone.  Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated by this, and that was the end of blogging from Peru.  My trip was very fast paced, and I really couldn’t find time to continue to post.  I do have every intention of getting back to it, but real life tends to interfere with these things, and it’s been hard to find the time.  But I still have a lot I want to say about Peru and I will post about the rest of my trip soon.

Peru part 4 — The Luck of the Draw

Today I was picked up at 7:00 AM at my hotel in Puno to be transferred to a bus that would take me to Cusco.  The bus was scheduled to leave Puno at 7:30 AM and arrive at Cusco at 5:00 PM.  To be fair, it wasn´t 9 1/2 hours of nonstop driving.  We had  4 sightseeing stops as well as a buffet lunch included, so it was a tour as well as a way to get from one place to another.  Along with the driver, we had a guide and a hostess on board, whose role it was to serve drinks (also included) to the passengers.  This trip made me realize that when you are on a tour, the experience can vary greatly based on the guide and the other participants, not to mention other variables, such as the weather.  I realized today just how lucky I was on all counts on the Lake Titicaca tour.  To begin with, today´s  group consisted of mostly Germans, along with a few couples from Argentina and Spain.  I have nothing against Germans; in fact I spent a very enjoyable day talking to a German girl on the tour the day before.  But this was a large group all travelling together and were a pretty tight clique.  Likewise, the Spanish speaking participants were all in couples and tended not to socialize much with anybody.  I´ve never been so happy to have an iPod in my life!  The guide on this trip, while nice enough, spoke English so badly that it was hard for me to understand him.  I relied more on his Spanish than his English to know what he was saying.  On some of the stops, he divided us in 2 groups, he took the English speakers (who were really German speakers, plus me) and the hostess took the Spanish speakers.  The first time he did this, I went with him and the Germans, but realized it was so hard to understand him when he only spoke English, that the next time we were divided up, I went with the Spanish speakers.  The problem with that group was that the hostess clearly was not a tour guide, and her descriptions of what we were seeing were very superficial.  Having said that, we did see some interesting things along the way.

Our first stop was a town called Pukara, about 2 hours from Puno.  Here we visited a small museum, called the Lityc Museum.  The Pukara were a pre-Incan civilization and the museum had artifacts dating back to 500 BCE. 

Our second stop was a lookout point, the highest point along our route, 4,300 meters altitude. (Sorry, I don´t know how many feet that is, but it´s high.)  This point is known as La Raya, and is the border between the Puno and Cusco regions of Peru.  Unfortunately, just as we got to this point, it started to rain and it was also very cold.  To give you an idea, I was wearing a t-shirt, sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker, and was still cold.  Because it was raining and cloudy, it was impossible to get good pictures and we couldn´t really appreciate the beauty of the landscape.

We arrived at our lunch spot around noon.  The buffet restaurant was set up with tables of 4.  I sat down by myself and one of the Germans in the group sat with me.  I don´t know if he took pity on me, or was tired of  the  people in his group.  The food was mediocre at best and very carbohydrate heavy–rice and pasta and bread, with some inedible meat and an unidentifiable soup.  The only thing not included in the lunch were cold beverages.  I bought a bottle of water and to my annoyance it was 5 soles.  Granted, that is still less than $2, but in the grocery stores here it is 1 or 1.5 soles so I was annoyed on principle.  After my meal, I wanted some coca tea (which I´ve actually come to like quite a bit).  There were no clean cups, and my request for a cup was ignored, so I drank my tea from my water glass.  The “waiter” then put a plate out on the tables for tips.  Um, I don´t think so.  I considered the price of the water more than enough of a tip.  It´s quite an art to have bad service in a buffet restaurant.  The best part of the restaurant were the 2 llamas lounging around outside.  Llamas seem to pose for the camera.  It´s amazing how photogenic they are.

After lunch we drove some more until arriving at the archeological complex of Raqchi, an Incan ruin.  I honestly don´t know much about the history of this site, because this is where I went with the Spanish speaking group, and the hostess/guide said things like “This was the temple.”  Very helpful.  The highlight of this stop was running into the Brazilian woman I had met the day before.  She was doing the same route with a different tour company.  It also started to rain again while we were there.

Our final stop before arriving at Cusco was a church in a town called Andahuaylillas, the Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo.  This was a very important church in colonial times, and has a beautiful ornate interior.   It is known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas because it has a completely decorated ceiling.  The church was an interesting contrast to all of the Inca ruins and indigenous culture that is so prevalent in Peru.

We arrived in Cusco at 5:00PM, right on schedule.  Waiting for me at the office where we were dropped off, was Evelyn from Rainbow Tours, the local company that is overseeing my trip.  She and a driver took me to my hotel, and she explained the schedule for the next few days.  Again, it is jam packed, but I am thrilled that I don´t have anything scheduled until 1:15 PM tomorrow.  Evelyn is very sweet and it seems that she will be accompanying me on all scheduled activities during my time in Cusco.  The service here has been very professional and I feel like a VIP with this level of attention.  Despite the negatives of today´s tour, I still enjoyed seeing the different sites and am optimistic about the rest of my trip.

Peru part 3 — Cultural Tourism

Today I spent a very interesting day touring some of the islands on Lake Titicaca.  Lake Titicaca is one of the world´s largest high altitude lakes and is located between Peru and Bolivia.  I was part of a tour of approximately 20 people from literally all over the world:  quite a few Americans, some Peruvians, as well as visitors from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Spain and Australia.  Overall, it was a very nice group.  I spent most of the day with women from Germany and Brazil, who were also both on the tour by themselves, and also chatted a bit with a lovely couple from Quebec.  We went by bus from the center of Puno to the docks (about 10 minutes away) where we boarded the boat that was our transportation for the day.

Our first stop was one of the Uros Islands.  There are approximately 42 of these man made floating islands.  The islands themselves, their houses, and their boats are all made of reeds.  Between 5 and 10 families live on each of the islands.  They are Aymara indians, which is also the name of their primary language.  Each island operates as a cooperative, with the families sharing a communal kitchen and taking turns preparing food for the other families.  According to our guide, only one of the islands has a bathroom, so it is necessary to travel by boat to use the facilities.  There is no electricity but some have solar power.  The main industry of these islands is fishing (mostly trout and kingfish) but tourism is increasingly becoming a large source of income as well.  When we arrived at the island, the women welcomed us, dressed in traditional clothing, and then our guide, Manuel, explained about how the islands are constructed and how the people live, as the women demonstrated some of their traditions.  Then we were invited to see their homes.  One of the women, Ana, grabbed the Brazilian woman and me to show us her house.  It consisted of a single room with a bed, a boombox, and her beautiful colorful skirts hanging on the wall.  This is where she lives with her husband and 2 children.  Immediately after seeing the houses, the women brought out their handicrafts which began a high pressure sales pitch.  How do you not buy anything to support people after having this intimate look at their lives?  I bought a wall hanging from Ana for 30 soles (approximately $10).  I probably got ripped off, but when I thought about it, that $10 is going to make so much more of an impact on her life than on mine.  Next, we had the option of going on our motor boat to another one of the islands, or riding in a traditional boat made of reeds (5 soles per person).  I chose to go on the traditional boat along with most of the group.  It was a nice ride and another picture into the life style of the residents of these islands.  When we arrived at the second island there was another opportunity to buy handcrafts, but I didn´t buy anything else there.

From the Uros Islands, we then set of for Taquile Island, which was about 2 1/2 hours away.  Taquile is much larger (4,000 inhabitants) who are Quechua indians, and also speak Quechua.  We walked up a hill (not easy at this altitude) where we passed sheep and cows and not much else on the way to our lunch spot.  Some of us had lunch included in the price of the tour and others had to pay separately.  Before we ate, Manuel explained about their customs and traditions of this island, and the local people demonstrated their handcrafts.  Then they performed traditional music and a dance for us, and for their grand finale, they invited us to dance with them.  Two of the performers were 80 and 95 year old men.  I danced with one of the women, who was gracious enough to lend me her beautiful elaborate headdress.  My new friend, Anja from Germany, took some pictures.  Lunch was quinoa soup (quinoa is grown on Taquile Island), and for the main course, we had a choice of trout or an omelette.  Even though I don´t eat much fish, I had the trout, as it is a local speciality.  It was fresh and delicious.  Then we had a choice of coca tea or muña tea.  Coca is popular in this area to help counter the effects of the high altitude.  Muña is a mint-like plant, and the tea is supposed to aid in digestion.  It wasn´t my favorite drink ever, but with some sugar it wasn´t bad.  Again, immediately after lunch, we had the opportunity to buy some more handicrafts.  We then walked some more through a different part of the island and boarded our boat for the return to Puno.

As much as I love learning about different cultures, I was somewhat ambivalent about this experience.   It kind of felt like “let´s gawk at the exotic natives.”   Here we are, rich foreigners (materially speaking, anyway, at least compared to the residents of the islands) with our cameras, photographing their homes, their kids, their beautiful clothing, their lives.   I wonder if they feel exploited or as if they are on display for us.  But this has become their livelihood as they become more and more dependent on tourism revenue, so even if they aren´t comfortable, I suppose they have to put on a big smile and entertain the tourists.    On the other hand, it´s such an amazing opportunity to be able to see a way of life that is so different from mine.  It really gives you some perspective on how much we have (again, speaking materialistically) compared to people in other parts of the world.  But for some reason, we seem so much unhappier as a society than the people I was fortunate enough to meet today.  Despite my ambivalence about the experience I was very glad to have had it.

Peru part 2 — Lima to Puno

After sleeping for about 10 hours, I was feeling refreshed and energized to continue my travels this morning.  Like the neurotic and punctual person that I am, I was in the lobby about 10 minutes early for my scheduled 9:50 pick up for the airport.  9:50 came and went with no car.  I waited about 5 minutes and decided to call Amatista at Rainbow Tours.  As I was on the phone with her, the driver arrived.  As we were driving toward the highway, she pointed out the traffic in the other direction as an explanation for why she was late.  We had horrible traffic as well on the way to the airport, which was making  me very nervous. I looked at my boarding pass, which indicated that if I was checking luggage, I needed to be at the airport 1 and 1/2 hours before my departure.  At the rate we were going, that wasn´t going to happen.  Once again, I felt a bit sick in the car, which was compounded by my anxiety about missing my flight.  This is when I realized why I like doing things on my own.  I never would have cut it so close!  I might be neurotic, but sometimes neurosis is useful.  Somehow, we got to the airport around 11:50, not quite the 1 1/2 hours before the flight, but close.  The ticket counter was a zoo, but because I already had my boarding pass from the travel agent I was able to go to a slightly shorter check in line.  Needless to say, I made the flight but with barely enough time to go to the bathroom in the airport. 

On the flight I was seated next to 2 women from Israel who were part of a group on a 35 day tour of South America, from Ecuador to Patagonia.  What an itinerary!  This flight was also difficult for me.  We had a stop in Cusco, and when the plane began it´s descent, I started feeling nauseous, was sweating and basically was miserable.  I felt better once we landed in Cusco but it started again when we took of for Juliaca, my destination.  Since this leg of the flight was only 30 minutes, we basically took off and almost immediately began to descend.  I must have been so green when we finally landed,  my seatmate insisted in giving me a bottle of water that she had in her bag.  I tried to refuse but she wouldn´t take no for an answer.  She also gave me a little sandwich that she had in her bag.  I was really touched by her kindness and concern.  One of the things I love most about traveling is meeting people along the way and small gestures like this are memorable and contribute to the experience. 

The airport in Juliaca is tiny, with one luggage carousel and Andean musicians entertaining you as you wait for your luggage.  Once again, when I exited the airport, I saw someone with a sign with my name and followed him to the shuttle I would take to Puno.  This time it was a full minibus for the approximately one hour ride.  I continued not to feel great on the ride,  which I was now attributing to the altitude on top of whatever caused me to not feel well earlier.  Puno is about 12,500 or 13,000 feet above sea level according to what I´ve read and heard.  When I was in Ecuador 2 years ago (about 9,000 feet)  I felt the effects of the altitude so I was well aware that this could really bother me.  I´m also taking medicine (Diamox) which is supposed to help with the symptoms, but now I´m wondering if that could have some other side effects.  Mostly on the bus I felt extremely tired. 

Finally we arrived at my hotel in Puno, Sol Plaza.  This is a really nice hotel, definitely a step up from my usual budget accommodations.  My room is on the 4th floor and there is no elevator.  Normally walking up 3 flights of stairs is no big deal.  A bellhop sprinted up the stairs with my suitcase, and I crawled along behind him.  I felt like I couldn´t breathe when I got to my room.  It´s amazing what oxygen does for you.  The hotel has coca tea available, which is supposed to help with the effects of the altitude.  I wanted a cup, but couldn´t imagine climbing the 3 flights again.  The very kind bellhop offered to bring cup to my room, which I accepted.  The tea consists of coca leaves floating in a cup of hot water.  With some sugar it wasn´t bad.  I had absolutely no energy and just stayed in the room and rested for a while, drinking the tea and also a lot of water.  I didn´t think I´d have even be able go out, which was disappointing since I wanted to at least see a little of the town.  But eventually I felt better so I decided to go for a walk.  I really wanted to go to an internet cafe to write these entries (the hotel has a computer but it´s too slow to do much).  It´s nice to just be able to explore a little bit.  Tomorrow morning I am getting picked up at 6:45 AM for a tour to some islands on Lake Titicaca so this is going to be another early evening.