First impressions of Cusco so far (we’ve been here less than 24h):
It is pretty chilly here! Not as cold as the middle of winter, probably, but without the type of American heating system like we’re used to, it’s a bit colder than we expected. The afternoons are warmer, about mid-60s or so, but nights and mornings are better spent inside and under the covers!
The hotel we are staying at has been really great so far. The rooms are clean and spacious (though probably cramped if you had a huge suitcase), shower is hot, toilet functions (we only had one explosion this morning; we were sleeping when all of a sudden we heard a loud noise like ceramic falling and hitting things and then water spraying… Apparently a pipe inside the toilet reservoir thing broke and sent up a jet of water that blew the toilet reservoir lid right off!! Wtf!), breakfast is decent, and free coca leaf tea.
I’m having a tough time adjusting to the high altitude, despite drinking the coca tea and chewing the leaves often. This makes me worried about our Machu Picchu hike, but hopefully my body will have acclimated more by then… Yesterday the Lion said that my lips were blue, and this morning I got all out of breath getting dressed because we were rushing to get down to breakfast. Phew!
Oh, and I had some alpaca ham yesterday! Was pretty dece, hopefully going to try guinea pig sometime soon!
A House Rises 