The way to Cusco is via a beautifully windy road that passes many pueblitos throughout the rolling mountains of the region. As we crested the switchback heading into Cusco as the sun was rising, my heart was happy! I have only amazing memories coming into this town again. We all crammed into a taxi, checked into what would become a base camp home, "Samay Wasi," and decompressed our way - hot beverages and animal crackers. There also may have been a game of baseball using grape-like berries and a large fallen branch found in the courtyard. Setting out to explore, the familiarity rushed back with each street we walked down, even though my memory has more holes than a cheese grater...I think. Had lunch at a small place near Plaza San Francisco - how are all the "veggie" sandwiches that only have cheese and MAYBE other ingredients on them always more expensive than burgers and meat dishes? Silliness! We climbed up the steep alley streets to a church on the side of a mountainside that provided beautiful views of the entire city! It's pretty difficult to breathe here as well, so anytime I say "climbed" or "ascended" or even just "walked," it was done slowly and with great effort. A fruit & granola dinner along with an amazing night of Skypeage rounded out the evening.
These stairs are no joke! And at 3400 meters, you feel every single one of them!
Saturday morning consisted of running errands down the main drag out of town, Avenida del Sol, passing a large church and Qorikancha (the Sun Temple) on the way to the post office. I also stumbled upon a legitimate basketball court being used for an all-day tournament of recreational teams - men's, women's, and co-ed teams, most of which had players over the age of forty-five. Definitely entertaining! When I returned, Hannah was a ball of anxious excitement in anticipation of her friends' arrival. To distract her, we watched some locals playing volleyball at a nearby school...that lasted about 10 minutes before we headed back to await their arrival. Hannah didn't have to wait too long because as we rounded the corner from the connecting alleyway, her friends were piling out of the transport van. Lots of hugs and happy smiles were exchanged before we eventually moved all their stuff to our hostel down the road (apparently, there are two Samay Wasi hostels). Hannah was just beaming with excited, happiness, and contentment. As one does when they fly into a town at 928745987245987254987254 meters, they were soon kicking back and sipping on cups on coca tea.
This is a pose Scott repeats often in group pictures.
After relaxing a bit, we walked the streets as a posse, stopping to watch some of the basketball game. I am definitely in no position to determine one's skill level, however, it resembled what we saw in Panama City...or what one might see at a tournament for a league of 8-9-year-olds. Quickly getting them caught up with our way of life, we had ice cream cones in their hands within 4 hours after their arrival! Awww yeeeaaahhh! The group headed to SAS, the tour company running their Inca Trail Hike, to confirm a few fine details. The office visit soon turned chaotic and hypertension-inducing when they told the group that Scott and John had called three days prior to cancel the tour. Since there is NO WAY that could have happened, instant concern followed regarding the reliability of all the other bookings. That concern was only heightened when they handed me my Huayna Picchu ticket and confirmation, which indicated that I was Andre Leighe, male, and born in a different month than what I've known to be true my whole life. "So, isn't this going to be a problem when I get to the top of Machu Picchu and they do not let me in because this information is incorrect." "No, it's ok. They only look at the name and the passport number." "Right, so two of my three names are wrong." "Yes, not a probl.....ohh, I see. Well, that should be ok, I think." Oh gosh - high blood pressure in that office. Eventually, we left to eat at Aldea Yanapay, a restaurant and social project that Ashley and I had eaten at four years prior. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, decompressing, and catching up.
Unfortunately, during the night, one of Hannah's friends got sick from the altitude. So, I got to be a nurse again... well, more like a doctor's office nurse that doesn't do much - the day consisted mainly of journaling with brief intermissions to check for chest rise after I gave her some Phenergan. On the blogging and Skype front, it was an extremely productive day. The lovely woman who ran the hostel suggested I buy her Sorojche pills; research revealed that it was basically Excedrin and comprised of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. Hmm, not helpful. Good ole Zofran and Phenergan did the trick. When the gang returned in the evening, Janelle had a bit more color and energy. Someone in the group asked her, "do you think you could eat some noodles?" "I could poke at them." Ten minutes later, all that remained was the empty bowl. Strong work, Janelle, strong work! They then had a round table-like discussion of the day and reminiscing about past adventures, which you can tell is something Hannah loves the most.
The next morning, Leah, Hannah and myself walked up the steep streets, past the church to large statue of Jesus that sat atop the mountain and overlooked all of Cusco. I led us astray on a series of small, thin switchbacks that, although they eventually did bring us to His feet, did so with much more risk than necessary. Schwoops...sorry ladies. Once at the top, we met up with John and Scott, who like smart people, cabbed it up there. As we started taking photos of this 30-ft white statue of Jesus, a circular rainbow formed above His head, almost like a colorful halo. Regardless of one's beliefs, that was a pretty unique and thought-provoking moment. We all admired that and the view that stretched over many miles for a while before heading back down to the church. On the neighboring mountaintop laid the ruins of "Saqsaywaman," pronounced "sexy woman" in a Forrest Gump accent. After watching two llamas wrestle each other (no joke, true wrestling technique) and admiring the ruins from a distance, we began descending. The ruins cost quite a bit of money to enter, but being the super-tourist Scott is, he had to at least make an attempt to see them up close. The four of us made it to the church and began snapping a series of silly jumping pictures. Before long, Scott came around the corner and admitted that, while attempting to enter the ruins from a smaller staircase on the side, he got caught. A for effort! The entire group reconvened at the Chocolate Museum, which I still find extremely interesting - each time I visit chocolate museums I learn a fun new fact, like 'the Chinese consume one chocolate bar for every 2000 that the English do.' We then moved on to a cafe that overlooked the main plaza and people-watched while sipping on our respect hot beverages. Ashley and I sat at the same table - same order, different music! After breaking off the run more errands, we met back up for dinner at a lovely little restaurant on the corner of Plaza San Blas called 'Andina.' Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel and the gang began their packing preparations for the hike. My main contribution was handing out dime bags of ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Zofran to the crew...as you do. Best wishes were exchanged, and in true rock star form, Hannah and I casually told each other "see you on Machu Picchu." :)
Hannah and Leah striking true "Saqsaywaman" poses.
Being the, let's say, "frugal" people we are, Bea and I move to a cheaper hostel a few blocks and one steep, arduous, slippery stone staircase away. Beautiful view but we quickly realized the extra soles were completely worth it stay in Samay Wasi once receiving very bipolar-esque treatment from the staff. You live and you learn...plus the mental image of Bea waiting, hands on hips, with her humungous roll-along suitcase PACKED with various clothing and accessories at the bottom of each staircase we came to; not skipping a beat to take a passing gentleman's offer to carry her bag up the stairs; watching that man struggle immensely with the bag and then abandon the plan once at the top (this happened twice); and the combination of seeing and hearing that suitcase roll/bounce over the huge, uneven cobblestone streets in between staircases = PRICELESS! To relax from that ordeal, we watched the original "The Karate Kid" on a TV sitting next to the door that overlooked the treacherous stairway that actually continued further up. We momentarily forgot where we were - at one of the most climactic parts of the film, when Daniel-san realizes he was learning karate the whole time as he is defending Miyagi's attacks, two llamas passed by the open door while slowly ascending the stairs outside. A pretty classic snap back into reality!
The afternoon brought a stroll through the "real"/local market just outside of Cusco's super-touristy areas. I love the hustle and bustle of markets, but this one was particularly crazy. There were models waiting by the southern market entrance for their turn with a photographer that was busy taking shots of one pretending to smell a display of carnations from the flower vendor. At some point, when Bea was sipping on her room-temp yogurt drink, we literally witnessed the most accurate Jesus look-alike we'd ever seen run through the crowd looking to buy something. We passed a medicine woman flanked by reused water bottles (props to that) full of unidentifiable liquids - snake juice, poo water, and maggot broth. That began the lightheaded sensation. Having not eaten, I nearly passed out when the aroma of unrefrigerated meat hit me the second I'd turned to see a stall with a bowl of pig's heads and a tri-fecta of cow tongues, intestines, and testicles hanging from a rusty bar = a combination of stimuli almost guaranteed to knock anyone on their syncopal butt. For recovery, we headed to an actual grocery store where I treated myself to a box of very expensive but incredibly necessary Trix. The Cocoa Museum and Andina for a second time rounded out the evening. In the morning, I hauled all of my stuff back to Samay Wasi - a tiring but, aside from a few locals stopping to debate whether I was homeless, uneventful feat. Though a plan to rendevouz later on in the afternoon failed in stellar fashion (I waited for 45 minutes outside the McD's while Bea waited that same time inside), we developed a fool-proof plan to meet later that evening to begin our journey to Machu Picchu!
Models waiting for Bea to stop smelling the flowers :) Believe, locals in Cusco do NOT wear shoes like that.
Literally watched this former-chicken slip from the woman's grip, fall to the floor, be picked up and stabilized atop a dusty bin lid, slide off the top, be pinned against the side of the bin by the woman's knee, re-stabilized atop the lid, and then handed to another woman to be prepared for the market's almuerzo! Truth.
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