CUSCO!! It has taken Russell and me a day and a half to acclimatize to the high altitude here. I am feeling slightly concerned, as still, just walking up the slightest incline makes my heart beat like a drum and leaves me short of breath! Russell with his lion’s heart and constitution of steel seems to have bounced back from altitude sickness in a wink…the lucky bugger! I’m hoping to be used to being physical at this altitude by the 1st when we start hiking the Inka trail!
We are gently pushing ourselves every day to walk more and more…especially the stairs and steep slopes around the city!
It has finally dawned on us that we are now without a home and that this holiday is leading us to a completely new and unknown place only visited by us in dreams, hopes, ideas and plans, with absolutely no guarantee whatsoever. Exciting? Yes!
The point that I’m actually trying to make, is this:
When you don’t have a physical structure you call home anymore, anywhere in the world where you stay becomes your home. Those moments that you spend between four walls; taking a warm shower (or luke warm/cold as is sometimes the case in South America!), reading your book tucked in a strange bed and waking up with the smell of a different air in your nose, becomes so well-defined, so clear, that one realises how much you take the normal every-day comforts of your own spot for granted. Your few, basic possessions are what feels familiar and I find a strange kind of comfort in carefully arranging my tin cup, toothbrush and book on the bedside table when arriving at a new room.
Russell and I have defined for ourselves what we find acceptable when staying at a hostel/backpackers whilst traveling:
Clean room, no smells, some ventilation, warm (ish) shower or bath, clean bedding and a relatively comfy bed.
Wow! Basic hey! I like breaking it down to the bare necessities. (Where’s Baloo when one needs him?!)
Being homeless, we are now, officially, tramps. I shall baptise us the
TERRIFIC TRAVELING TRAMPS
from this point onwards... (Wouldn’t it have been great if we were three and I could add “trio”.. ha ha!)
Our current home is called Casa del Campo…an inn on the slope of the mountain housing the ancient site of Saqsaywaman (pronounced 'sexy woman').
We can basically see the whole of Cusco from here…very cool. Our room is small and quite cold, with two single beds and a tiny bathroom with a leaking shower. But it is comfortable, light, clean, very reasonably priced and the breakfasts include wonderful, freshly squeezed fruit juices and fruits in front of a big fire. We are happy here.
We can basically see the whole of Cusco from here…very cool. Our room is small and quite cold, with two single beds and a tiny bathroom with a leaking shower. But it is comfortable, light, clean, very reasonably priced and the breakfasts include wonderful, freshly squeezed fruit juices and fruits in front of a big fire. We are happy here.
A visual diary of Cusco thus far:
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| View from the plane of the Andes |
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| Cusco by night |
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| Classic Inka double-jamb doorways |
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| The famous 12-cornered stone close to the Plaza de Armas |
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