Peru, Conquistadors Log Days 1-2

Today was a long day, but to be fair "today" is a bit of a misnomer seeing as "today" has lasted almost 37 hours... The road to Cusco is long. For us, it started with a midmorning metro, early afternoon flight to Fort Lauderdale, and evening flight to Lima, landing at 11:00 pm. That should have been the end, but no.

Based on diligent travel blog research, we thought we would be able to sleep most of the night in Lima Airport and then catch our 6:45 am flight to Cusco in the morning but instead our night fell prey to overactive floor swabbers, closed terminals, and boarding anxiety. We settled into a bench each around 2 am after having waited an hour and a half for the domestic terminal to reopen and having moved seats several times as the janitors marched across the food court. With heads covered, we managed a restless 2 hours before admitting defeat and moving closer to our actual gate which smelled alternately of antiseptic and poultry farms.

We finally loaded the plane in Lima after a cramped shuttle on to the runway and managed a power nap across Peru (minus the 6/7 times Stu snorted himself awake). Upon arrival, Stu expertly haggled us a taxi and we made our way to our casa for the next few days-the Samana Inn and Spa where we were greeted with cocoa tea sipped in the inner courtyard while they tidied our room for us.

The room. THE ROOM! Perched at the top of our dizzying three story Villa, the room looks out across swaybacked terra cotta roofs, industriously colonized hills, and ancient terraced mountains that remind you why we're here. After delighting in the view, overcoming the temptations of the bed, and test driving the shower, we hit the streets knowing that if we didn't move, we'd crash.

Cusco is a city that sprawls vertically, expressed in various combinations of stone, stucco, and stairs. Hidden courtyards are the norm, with each some surprise of handmade shopping or sizzling kitchens. We navigated our way first to Pacha Papa, where we had traditional Peruvian food cooked in the largest wood-fired oven I've ever seen, accompanied by an unidentified harp-like instrument that, by law, cannot be played without a poncho.

Next was a flurry of shopping to find the perfect ear-flapped alpaca wool hat for Stu, accomplished when we stumbled across my new grandmother (adoption papers pending) hand-knitting hats on the stairs of one of Cusco's cobbled alleys. She smiled the most mother-tree smile, and sold us a couple of perfect hats for a dozen soles a piece (like $3.50... turns out we're millionaires here).

After this, we wandered aimlessly through cafes, alleyway art fairs, mercadas, and so very many sweater shops. When ran out of polite excuses for the tenacious shopkeepers and doorway loiterers, we settled into a precarious balcony hung drunkenly over a thin alley. We ate alpaca pizza, because we're nothing if not thematic, and nursed a carafe of table wine (emphasis on table). While we dined, we were enchanted by a Boo-like child (think Monsters Inc.) who played merry havoc with all of the occupants of the alley, from shopkeepers to disreputable hostellers to stray dogs, and even to baby goats.

Now, I'm writing this on the partially-lit patio outside of our room, sipping cocoa tea, and watching the sunlight slowly dissipate into the irregular streetlights that outline the ridges of our Peruvian valley. We WILL last to a respectable bedtime, dammit.

Tomorrow we promise pictures of the numerous baby goats swaddled on local backs and rocking some vibrant hand-knitted hats.

all photos from days 1 and 2