Perú: Lima to Cuzco

After months of planning the day had finally arrived. Friday afternoon (two weeks ago today) Jon, Nate, Kevin, Pat and I set out on our ten day Peruvian/ Bolivian journey. Our first step was Lima, Perú for one night. The plane right was wonderful... I just finished the Hunger Games series (highly recommended) and started reading "The Help", a great book which was accompanied by complimentary white wine. While the wine was delicious, it was the start of a perpetual 16 hour long head ache.

During our ten hour layover in Lima we took a cab 40 minutes away to find a typical Peruvian restaurant... instead at the taxi driver's discretion, we were brought to the nicest restaurant in Lima... a seafood restaurant on a pier overlooking the water. The view was absolutely gorgeous which made the entire experience even more surreal (picture below). When Kevin and Pat asked fro a table for five, the hostess gave them a stare down and it was not until the men in suits and women in dresses began to exit the restaurant that we understood why. Regardless, after about a half an hour or internal conflict, the hostess escorted us to our table. The food was incredible and there was even a desert called "Wet Chocolate Cake with lots of chocolate and so much more..." While we didn't order the chocolate cake, the question of what the "so much more" could possibly be will forever haunt us.

Within one hour after leaving the pier, we went from living like high society to sleeping on the airport floor. Yes, 5 BC Gringos cuddled around three trash cans next to about 25 other travelers. Although I am the lightest sleeper in the world, my hopes were high... however, these hopes were shot down when the hours passed and passed... hours that were filled with the obnoxious pre-recorded voice of a woman advising me to take precaution in the airport EVERY THREE MINUTES. After 4 1/2 hours of lying on the airport floor, we had to catch our second flight from Lima to Cuzco. I sat next to two girls around the age of 16 who screamed of excitement when the plane took off. It was their first flight.

Unfortunately, my headache was still raging at 9:30AM when we arrived in Cuzco so while the boys began exploring, I rented a hostel and slept for three hours... best decision of my life. When I was awoken by the boys I felt 1000x better. We began to explore Cuzco, the most important city of the Inca Empire, which was absolutely beautiful (picture below). As the good Boston College students that we are, we did a Jesuit Church Tour. Afterwards, on our way to get lunch, Nate bargained a painting down from 150 soles to 1 sol... only in South America. We ate at Paddy's which is the highest Irish pub in the world. Shepherd's Pie was scrumptious. After lunch, Nate and I began to wander around Cuzco and, to our surprise, the was a parade throughout the streets. I am not quite sure what the parade was for but it was really incredible to see Peruvians of all ages dressed up dancing through the alleyways.

At dinner I taught the group about Glums and Glows. When I was on my Broadreach Three Week Boat Trip throughout the Leeward Islands in 2007, every night at dinner each team member had to say their glums of the day and their glows (like highs and lows). The five of us shared our glums and glows every day of the trip which was a great way to end each jam-packed day. After dinner we took a buscama (a bus with leather recliner chairs for sleeping) for 9 hours to the Peruvian/Bolivian border. The next post will show you the sketchy place where we were dropped off and tell you all about the amazing time we had on Isla del Sol, Bolivia!