24/07/2019 – Arrival in Cusco, Peru

Once we reached the mountain pass, prior to midnight, we realised it was unlikely we would get much rest on this journey. The bus was hurtling around hairpin bends like there was no tomorrow, hand luggage falling on our heads, the toilet door slamming open and shut the whole way. At one point Josh and I clutched to each other and rationalised that there were two options, 1- get off the bus and almost certainly die on the unlit narrow mountain pass roads, or 2- stay on the bus and hope for the best! We put the ipad back on and tried to distract ourselves from the nutty roads and driver, whom I guess knows the roads like the back of his hand. We closed our eyes for a little bit, snoozing in between bumps and swaying and horns from oncoming traffic. We pulled up at a small bus terminal on route at 0800, which I was thankful for as we could quickly use the bathroom. Then we carried on for a couple of hours until we pulled into the side of the road, there were toilets (bucket in a shed pretty much) and a little shack where I think the bus picked up our breakfast. Soon after we were back on the road, and we were served a little bag with butter, rolls, a box drink and some pineapple jam (pineapple jam is gross in case you are wandering!) The cabin crew came and served a cup of hot water and gave me a sachet of coffee to add, when we flew over some speed bumps and round the bend, the whole thing went all over both Josh and I, luckily it wasn’t scalding hot but it was a bit of a clean up job but quite funny at the same time! We tried to relax for the next few hours, Josh not feeling to great, probably a mix of altitude, dehydration, tiredness and travel sickness! We pulled into Cusco bus terminal at around 14:30, breathed a sigh of relief and picked up our luggage from under the bus. We didn’t have to look too far for a taxi, and were soon on our way to our hostel. Our original hostel had accidentally overbooked so moved us to another hostel over the road for a couple of nights, not ideal but its not too bad here either. We pulled up, went inside and wandered around looking for someone to check us in. Eventually after locating a doorbell to attract some attention, we were shown to our room. We are staying at Chelitos Backpackers hostel for two nights. Josh and I have a room with bunk beds and a single bed, and a communal kitchen and bathroom. It is cold in Cusco, we are at an altitude of about 3400m. The shower is open air and kept going hot and cold which I could have cried about at this point in time! Still we manage to sort ourselves out and then headed into the centre to find some food and drink. We are staying right in the centre of town, it is only about a 5 minute walk to the main square, so a fabulous location! We headed to somewhere called Jacks café (yet another lonely planet recommendation) that promised large portions of all day breakfasts. Josh and I endulged ourselves with juice coffee and a huge cooked breakfast, followed by a dulce de leche churro to share from a street vendor on our way home.

Origonal Inca walls forming norrow walkways in cusco

Even though we were exhausted, and knew we should take things slow so as to acclimatise to the high altitude, it was hard not to stop and browse the market stalls, and gawp at the beauty of the city. There was so much atmosphere and we are both excited to explore more! It is panoramic mountain peaks encircling cobbled streets, teeny tiny locals wrapped up in colourful handmade blankets selling basically anything (handmade goods, plastic backscratchers, plastic bags with juice in, anything goes!) with gorgeous little children all bundled up and strapped across their mums backs with a big blanket. We saw people in traditional dress walking around with tiny lambs on a leash, only of course we soon realised they are not lambs but baby llamas! You can pay to take a photo with them (not doent his yet but probably will at some point!) We got back to our hostel and tucked ourselves under about 6 heavy wool blankets to get warm. Josh played with his photos as he has recently learnt how to use a new thing on lightroom that he says makes a big difference! We chilled in the room for a few hours before ordering a papa Johns pizza delivery via Uber eats. We made a little den on the bottom bunk with the blankets, and ate it in bed whilst watching greys anatomy, until tiredness got the better of us.