Cuzco

On Friday, 5th of June I finally started my journey to South America. I flew from Dublin to Madrid and from there to Lima. I was worried at first that I would spend the long transatlantic flight alone, but I was fortunate to get a seat next to an Austrian guy with whom I got along well. He seemed like good-humoured, talkative and out-going person who had been travelling quite a lot. He was traveling alone, but planned to join a group of other Austrian and German tourists in Lima and travel around in Peru with them for around 3 weeks.

When I arrive to Lima a girl from the hostel was waiting for me at the airport. I was glad to see her as I was so tired after the long flight and 8 hours of time difference that I wouldn't have been able to tell any taxi driver in which hostel I was staying. It was 10 pm local time, but 6 am in Finnish time and I wasn't able to sleep much at the plane, so at that point I was barely awake. It didn't really help that I had to wake up the following day at 3 am to cath a flight to Cuzco. I met some nice people from Netherlands and the US at the hostel so I spent an hour or so in the living room with them drinking beer and watching tv before going to bed.

It was easier than I thought to wake up the following morning, but I didn't realize how tired I really was until I managed to loose my passport at the airport and not even noticing it before it was time to board the plane! Luckily I didn't miss the plane - even thought it was question of some minutes that I would have. The flight took only an hour, but if I had gone to Cuzco by bus it would have taken almost 12 hours because of the mountain roads and slow busses. The weather in Cuzco was surprisingly cold at 7 am - just around + 5 degrees or so and the wind was freezing. The airport was pretty much surrounded by eager taxi drivers and I didn't know which one to choose so I eventually took a random one to my hostel. I paid 20 soles (5 euros, but being tired and hungry I was pissed off, because I thought I was being ripped off). Now that I think of that it was quite .. a foolish reaction considering that I'm from a country where the minimum payment for taxis at daytime is 5.5 euros and even short distances cost 8 euros. Anyway, when I got to the hostel there was a young peruvian guy waiting for me. He didn't speak a word English, but spoke Spanish slowly and very clearly so that I could understand what he was saying. He also offered me a cup of coca tea and adviced which places to visit in the city.

At first I was a little worried about walking around in the city centre alone, but when I noticed that there were also other solo travelers from Australia, Europe and the US I became more confident. I was amazed how beautiful the city was! It's said to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and for a good reason. It's surrounded by six mountains and it's influenced by both inca culture (fine arts, handicrafts) and the colonial style (architecture, goldsmith's works and woodcarvings). Close to the city centre there are picturesque parks and beautiful inca ruins. There are also colourful marketplaces where one can buy fruits, colourful handicrafts, such as ponchos and hats made of alpaca wool as well as ceramics, jewelry and hand-made instruments.











Luckily I didn't have to walk around alone long as I met another solo traveler around noon. We were both sitting outside an israeli cafè and because neither of us had company I asked him if he would like some company and said yes. He was an Australian student from Sydney and had come to Cuzco, because an Australian friend of his was about to marry a Peruvian girl and the wedding was going to be held somewhere close to Cuzco. It's a pity that I didn't a picture of him .. he was very charming with his red curly hair (he has similar hair the British pop star Mika, but auburn red). All in all he looked like a guy I could imagine of meeting on bar by the beach drinking beer and listening to Jack Johnsson or simply red. I spent half a day with him and had a great time. He was easy to approach, laid-back and easy-going. By the time he went back to his hostel it was already 6 pm and time to meet the other people who going to Machu Picchu with me. It was a relatively small group (7 members)and for some peculiar reason most of them were also Australians!To be exact 4 Australian female students, a couple in their thirties from the US and me.
The Australians had recently graduated from university and took a couple of months off before getting a "real" job. For them Cuzco and Machu Picchu was the last place to visit and it was one of the highlights of the trip. My first impression of them was positive - they seemed out-going, talkative and enthustiastic about the hiking trip to Machu Picchu. Also the guide, a Peruvian student in his twenties seemed warm-hearted and friendly. The meeting was unfortunately quite short (only half an hour or so), because we were going to start our journey the following day already at 6 am and everyone in the group had loads of things to buy (hiking equipment, altitude pills etc).