1st Day in Peru – CUSCO

After 24 hours of flying our backpacking adventure of Peru had began. We got off the plane in Cusco feeling not only overwhelmed with open arms by the charming Peruvians, but also seeing the scenery of the landscape surrounding the city. We knew very quickly that we picked the perfect backpacking destination.

After finally reaching our hostel called Pariwana hostel we decided to take a small stroll around the main city’s tourist attractions. Yet, after a few steps going up very small hills, we suddenly felt completely out of breath and exhausted. Forgetting about the altitude of  3,800 meters , we soon got really bad headaches. It never really occurred to us how the high altitude would affect us. It caught us off guard, but with some quick luck we found a semi cure. Cocoa leaves! Eating or drinking cocoa leaf tea helped unbelievably, plus ibuprofen also worked. After getting lots of meds into us, we continued to explore Cusco. Since it was already late in the afternoon we headed towards a well-named pizzeria. It was called Carlos Pizzeria. Oh this place was incredible cute!!! It was a hole in the wall with a small little oven. The kitchen was open to the dinning area that included three small tables, just enough to fit about 8 people. The chef/server made up a home-cooked pizza that tasted extraordinary. It was a restaurant that you just wish every city had, something charming that included yummy food and a great price. After our stomachs were full, we knew it was time for a nap or even bed time for the day, since the 24 hours of traveling to Cusco made us completely exhausted. But we first headed over to the bus station to purchase our bus tickets to Puno. Our plan was to visit after our Machu Picchu adventure, which was in two days. The bus station was an experience in itself. Locals from every angle of the station were running up to us, talking loud in Spanish, and sometimes grabbing us only to encourage us to purchase a ticket with their bus company. We decided very quickly to go where all the other tourists were going to get their tickets too. We purchased our return bus tickets from Cusco to Puno and back for only $40USD in total for the both of us. Very cheap and the buses are actually much better than North American buses. They are double-decker with lazy boy chair styles, very comfortable .

Since the bus tickets were purchased and the plan for tomorrow was already set, our bed time turn out to be 7pm. It was the best feeling, laying on a bed and not experiencing any sort of light-headedness.  We both slept through the night and woke up feeling amazing. Today was the day we were off to start our adventure to the village of Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes. Machu Picchu was only one day away now!!! …. See NEXT post!