Cusco

We stayed in the town of Iquitos one last day on Friday. We had a fabulous hotel with clean, hot water and air conditioning. It was quite the treat after our adventure down the Amazon and the Reserve. I shared a room with the other Drake girl.We enjoyed the little things we normally take for granted that day. We had one last meal at The Yellow Rose of Texas restaurant, and slept early.  
We then flew from Iquitos to Lima on Saturday morning. The flight left at 8am so it was another early morning for us. Fortunately everything was on time and there were no issues. It was fairly nice weather in Lima. We went to an up-scale shopping place called Locumar, which is basically a mall that was built infront of the ocean on the side of a cliff. Everything was way too expensive, but it was fun to look. We went to the movie theater there to kill time. Fortunately, the movie was in English, with Spanish subtitles. That made it much more enjoyable. We ate at Chili's for lunch, giving into our American food craving. The portion sizes are smaller, but the food was just as delicious.
Sunday morning we flew from Lima to Cusco. If you recognize that name, it is probably because you have seen the Emperor´s New Groove. We had to get up by 3 am to leave that day. On the plane I sat next to a guy who was from Cusco, and he was a musician in town. He showed me his guitar, which looked more like a ukalele, but it had ten strings. It was interesting. We arrived in Cusco early, around 8am. We went to our hostel, but of course the rooms were not ready yet. We had breakfast there, and sat in the courtyard for a couple hours. It was good just to rest, because the altitude is so high. You walk up one flight of stairs and you feel like you just ran a marathon. Many people get serious altitute sickness when first arriving in Cusco, and it can be very dangerous. The moment we stepped off our plane, women were selling coca leaves to prevent this sickness. People put them in the side of their mouth, and essentially make a tea with their own saliva. We went to the central plaza that night and ate at a pizzeria. It was not quite American food, but we were all craving pizza.
Today was a day of sight-seeing. We went to various Inca ruins around the Cusco area. The first was called Saqsayhuaman, which was high up on the hill. It had a beautiful view of the mountains of Cusco, including the Andes. We also visited Tambomachay, which was also a hike to get to. It was an area that the Incas used to rest at on their journeys. Tipon was another place as well as pukapukara. Q´éngo was the very last ruin we saw. It was a cave where they believed the Incas performed sacrifices. Mostly, they sacrificed llamas, but archaelogists have found some human sacrifices, and mummified bodies. At night, we saw a cultural dance show. The traditional dances resemble the Spanish Flamenco and other folk dances.

The city of Cusco in the background

Cartwheeling through the mountains

Llamas and Alpacas everywhere!

I am excited for Wednesday because that is when we visit Machu Picchu! I can´t believe the trip is almost over. Nothing has been a relaxing vacation, but it has been very interesting!