Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, 9.28: Cusco
Having woken up before dawn for practically our entire trip, we were shocked to discover when we roused ourselves the next morning that it was already 10:30. Given the late hour, we decided to forego breakfast and get on with that day’s itinerary, which was a trip to the Pisac market for one final souvenir-buying extravaganza. We did make one stop on our way out of town, which was to the camping-equipment store where we’d rented our trekking poles. Much to my dismay, both the store where we’d rented our poles and the one where we were told to drop them off were closed. I hoped at least one of them would open up later in the day, but I started to mentally prepare myself that I might not get my license back just in case.
We caught a cab to drive us the 10 miles or so through the mountains to Pisac. Once we arrived at the market, we browsed together briefly before realizing it would probably be wiser to split up, since we were all looking for different things. After about an hour of wandering through the maze of stalls (during which I scored a potholder for my grandmother, a crèche for my mom, alpaca scarves for all of my friends, and an alpaca finger puppet for Nikki’s baby), I managed to track down both Heather and Bri, and we set off to find a place for lunch.
I had noticed several cafes bordering the square where the market was set up, so we headed in that direction, finally settling on one with a balcony overlooking the market, which ended up having what Bri would deem “the nicest public restrooms in all of Peru.” We all ordered alpaca cheeseburgers and fresh-squeezed juice (Bri had what would become another favorite Peruvian specialty: chicha morada, a sweet purple corn drink), and while we waited for our food to arrive, we compared what we’d bought so far.
The wind had started to pick up considerably while we were eating lunch, and we could tell a storm was imminent, but we still had a few remaining souvenirs to get, so we rushed off in search of them. All of the sellers were starting to pack up their stalls in anticipation of the coming storm (plus, it was nearly time for the market to close anyway), but I managed to find my remaining item—a gorgeous alpaca blanket for my parents.
For some reason, Heather had become possessed by a fierce need not to pay more than 30 soles for our cab ride back to Cusco, so instead of heading to the parking lot where we’d been dropped off to try to find a cab, we decided to try our luck on the streets of Pisac instead. (It is here that I should mention that most cabs in Peru are not actual cabs, but rather regular people who put “Taxi” stickers up in their windows and give rides to tourists to make a few extra bucks. Heather had read about this phenomenon in our guidebook before we arrived in Cusco, and we decided we wouldn’t get in a cab unless it met the description of an “official” taxi set forth by our guidebook. Of course, that lasted all of 10 minutes before we realized that “official” cabs are few and far between in Peru.) Anyway, we managed to find an “unofficial” cab driver who quoted us a price of 35 soles. Heather was ready to keep searching, but as the rain was starting to pick up, Bri and I implored her to just go with the 35-sole cab.
I started feeling queasy after all the twists and turns on the ride home, so while Bri and Heather did a bit more souvenir shopping, I decided to go back to the hotel for a nap. On my way there, I noticed that the camping-equipment store was now open, so I was able to retrieve my driver’s license before settling down to sleep. I also noticed that our room was still plagued by a pervasive foot smell, which I remedied by opening up the doors to the balcony and placing all of our boots outside.
When Bri and Heather got back, we took some time to pack up our stuff before heading out to celebrate our successful completion of the Inca Trail (and Heather’s last night in Peru) at Jack’s, a popular tourist restaurant in San Blas. There, we toasted with pisco sours and feasted on tacos. Unfortunately, though, whatever stomach issue had plagued me at lunch came back with a vengeance at dinner, so again, while Heather and Bri shopped their way back to the hotel, I made a beeline straight there to take a shower and crawl into bed. This time, even though I took more medicine, the nausea didn’t go away, and I spent a restless night on the edge of vomiting.
Continue to Day 11: Cusco to Lima
Having woken up before dawn for practically our entire trip, we were shocked to discover when we roused ourselves the next morning that it was already 10:30. Given the late hour, we decided to forego breakfast and get on with that day’s itinerary, which was a trip to the Pisac market for one final souvenir-buying extravaganza. We did make one stop on our way out of town, which was to the camping-equipment store where we’d rented our trekking poles. Much to my dismay, both the store where we’d rented our poles and the one where we were told to drop them off were closed. I hoped at least one of them would open up later in the day, but I started to mentally prepare myself that I might not get my license back just in case.
We caught a cab to drive us the 10 miles or so through the mountains to Pisac. Once we arrived at the market, we browsed together briefly before realizing it would probably be wiser to split up, since we were all looking for different things. After about an hour of wandering through the maze of stalls (during which I scored a potholder for my grandmother, a crèche for my mom, alpaca scarves for all of my friends, and an alpaca finger puppet for Nikki’s baby), I managed to track down both Heather and Bri, and we set off to find a place for lunch.
I had noticed several cafes bordering the square where the market was set up, so we headed in that direction, finally settling on one with a balcony overlooking the market, which ended up having what Bri would deem “the nicest public restrooms in all of Peru.” We all ordered alpaca cheeseburgers and fresh-squeezed juice (Bri had what would become another favorite Peruvian specialty: chicha morada, a sweet purple corn drink), and while we waited for our food to arrive, we compared what we’d bought so far.
The wind had started to pick up considerably while we were eating lunch, and we could tell a storm was imminent, but we still had a few remaining souvenirs to get, so we rushed off in search of them. All of the sellers were starting to pack up their stalls in anticipation of the coming storm (plus, it was nearly time for the market to close anyway), but I managed to find my remaining item—a gorgeous alpaca blanket for my parents.
For some reason, Heather had become possessed by a fierce need not to pay more than 30 soles for our cab ride back to Cusco, so instead of heading to the parking lot where we’d been dropped off to try to find a cab, we decided to try our luck on the streets of Pisac instead. (It is here that I should mention that most cabs in Peru are not actual cabs, but rather regular people who put “Taxi” stickers up in their windows and give rides to tourists to make a few extra bucks. Heather had read about this phenomenon in our guidebook before we arrived in Cusco, and we decided we wouldn’t get in a cab unless it met the description of an “official” taxi set forth by our guidebook. Of course, that lasted all of 10 minutes before we realized that “official” cabs are few and far between in Peru.) Anyway, we managed to find an “unofficial” cab driver who quoted us a price of 35 soles. Heather was ready to keep searching, but as the rain was starting to pick up, Bri and I implored her to just go with the 35-sole cab.
I started feeling queasy after all the twists and turns on the ride home, so while Bri and Heather did a bit more souvenir shopping, I decided to go back to the hotel for a nap. On my way there, I noticed that the camping-equipment store was now open, so I was able to retrieve my driver’s license before settling down to sleep. I also noticed that our room was still plagued by a pervasive foot smell, which I remedied by opening up the doors to the balcony and placing all of our boots outside.
When Bri and Heather got back, we took some time to pack up our stuff before heading out to celebrate our successful completion of the Inca Trail (and Heather’s last night in Peru) at Jack’s, a popular tourist restaurant in San Blas. There, we toasted with pisco sours and feasted on tacos. Unfortunately, though, whatever stomach issue had plagued me at lunch came back with a vengeance at dinner, so again, while Heather and Bri shopped their way back to the hotel, I made a beeline straight there to take a shower and crawl into bed. This time, even though I took more medicine, the nausea didn’t go away, and I spent a restless night on the edge of vomiting.
Continue to Day 11: Cusco to Lima
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