Peru TravelBlog 09 Index

February 2, 2009
Cuzco, At Last!

At 3:15am, my alarm went off. Not surprisingly, I had checked it about 7 minutes before it was due to play melodic marimbas to wake me up. I've always had a very reliable inner alarm clock but there is a certain confidence having a backup.

I packed everything back into my bags last night praying that they wouldn't weigh more than the allotted 50 lbs each. Got them ready by the door so there wouldn't be much to do after the alarm went off but to wait for the taxi Musi had arranged.

Turns out, in the perfection of it all, my plane for Cuzco was going to leave at 5:40 this morning and Musi's friend Ric's plane was due to arrive around 5:00. We couldn't have planned it better if we tried. The taxi driver was on time and loaded up my bags. On the way, he and Musi chatted and once again I was blown away by the kind of memory the Peruvians have for each other. They hadn't seen each other in years and yet he asked about Flor like it was just yesterday.

We arrived at the airport in Lima and stood in the wrong line for a while before entering the right line and making our way slowly to the front. Got my boarding pass and headed for the gate. On the way, stopped to pay the additional $6.50 US for the airport tax, sailed through the check point and headed back to gate 15 after passing it up. Soon after I arrived, I heard my name called. I traded the boarding pass I had just received for the new one I was handed. Hmm, why? Well somehow they picked me as the one to be changed to first class, seat 1D, from my former seat 17D. Good omen, Cuzco, here I come. After boarding the plane I was offered juicy and continued to get special treatment the whole way, including a hot towel to wash my hands.

The plane was late taking off as the Cuzco airport was closed temporarily for weather. After about an hour we took off and about an hour later, landed in Cuzco. I grabbed a cart and headed for the baggage claim. We were serenaded by wonderful musicians and I did a little dance of joy as I waited for my bags to come around.

Heading for the door, I negotiated with taxi drivers in front of the airport and ended up with a great ride with Walter Mendoza. I am finding that my Spanish is good enough to get me where I am going and have a bit of conversation. Walter knew exactly where Calle Cenissa 331 was and turned out to be a good resource.


Later that day...

I just had my livelyhood etc. flash before my eyes. I was talking to a friend on Skype, when I looked up and my computer charge was at 1% and the computer went to sleep. Ok, no problem, go plug it in and recharge.

I came back to my apartment, plugged it in and it did not come back on. I wiggled the cord and it was having problems with the connection but it was the color orange which would normally indicate that it was charging. I decided to close the cover and give it some time to charge up and went back to my book thinking, "what am I going to do if my computer is broken? How will I keep up with the websites I am working on and the work that I have promised people? And what about my blog and posting pictures?" All kinds of thoughts were going through my mind including looking for a used mac in Cuzco.

I couldn't concentrate on the book. I knew I was just fooling myself to think that it would work after it built up a charge. If it's plugged in, it works, but maybe in Peru the rules are different. I had to get up and try it again.

Lifted the lid, and nothing. I tried it in a different electrical socket, no change. I wiggled the plug again and it was still a loose fit to the computer. "Maybe I can bend the little silver things to get it to be snug." As I went to try that, I looked inside the connector and, "what's that little thing in there?" It looked like a little worm had crawled inside and petrified. I went about looking for a tool and found a needle to perform the extraction. I pulled it out and it was just a little piece of who knows what. Hopeful, I plugged it back in and my problem was solved. Oh joy, oh relief!

Thus, the blog continues...

Mi cama. The apartment is filled with a lot of beautiful wood
as you can see here including the floor. Tasty.

Glass in the bathroom ceiling.

This is a view from my apartment on to the courtyard. You might think this is a door but it is really a window instead of an opening. My second day in Cuzco, it rained and hailed harder than any day last year. If you squint, perhaps you can see it coming down. A good day to stay inside and get acclimated. By the way, no altitude sickness.

Now this, is the door.

My kitchen.

There are 3 skylights in the beautiful tall ceilings.

Over there in the top corner is the apartment
that Musi and I had last year.