Day 2, Sunday, June 8, 2008
Now it’s Sunday morning, 8AM. Arrived here Saturday – from Lima airport to Cuzco, Peru - in an altitude induced haze and stupor; headachy, woozy and bereft of Beth (Bethless). Cuzco at 11,000 feet altitude, in winter, is a shock to the system. That plus below freezing temps at night - though sunny and relatively warm by day - and no heat, just blankets, makes life tough for tourists. Up 8AM-ish, I was in bed 12 hours. Found a sunny corner to warm up in and waited for my ride to the airport, hopeful of seeing Beth. Flying American Airlines, you never know if she’ll make her flight or not. (In retrospect American did cancel her flight again, but she wrangled a flight on USAir instead)
Somehow I found a hilltop hostel in the heart of Cuzco. I’m a sometime member of HI (Hostelling International) so this was a pleasant coincidence. Sipping my hot coca tea, I’m collecting my thoughts and hoping to meet Beth in a few hours. Long story short, we plan to attend an immersion program in Peru’s Sacred Valley – in a town called Urubamba – an hour outside Cuzco, where it’s slightly lower in elevation and better, slightly warmer. Pablo, who heads the school, met me at the airport in Cuzco and hearing my story suggested I remain in Cuzco and wait for Beth here. That’s OK with me, as I want to see Beth as soon as possible, if she ever gets here. I’ll know in a little while, as Pablo will theoretically arrive and take me to the airport.
Spent the previous (Saturday) afternoon and evening wandering Cuzco in a disoriented state, finding a killer local restaurant with home cooking (El Fogon) in one neighborhood and afterwards wandering through alleys and steep hillside streets, gasping for air. That’s probably why I went to bed freezing, under 20 pounds of wool blankets, with an altitude induced headache artfully combining stress and oxygen deprivation, impossible to alleviate.
Now it’s Sunday morning, 8AM. Arrived here Saturday – from Lima airport to Cuzco, Peru - in an altitude induced haze and stupor; headachy, woozy and bereft of Beth (Bethless). Cuzco at 11,000 feet altitude, in winter, is a shock to the system. That plus below freezing temps at night - though sunny and relatively warm by day - and no heat, just blankets, makes life tough for tourists. Up 8AM-ish, I was in bed 12 hours. Found a sunny corner to warm up in and waited for my ride to the airport, hopeful of seeing Beth. Flying American Airlines, you never know if she’ll make her flight or not. (In retrospect American did cancel her flight again, but she wrangled a flight on USAir instead)
Somehow I found a hilltop hostel in the heart of Cuzco. I’m a sometime member of HI (Hostelling International) so this was a pleasant coincidence. Sipping my hot coca tea, I’m collecting my thoughts and hoping to meet Beth in a few hours. Long story short, we plan to attend an immersion program in Peru’s Sacred Valley – in a town called Urubamba – an hour outside Cuzco, where it’s slightly lower in elevation and better, slightly warmer. Pablo, who heads the school, met me at the airport in Cuzco and hearing my story suggested I remain in Cuzco and wait for Beth here. That’s OK with me, as I want to see Beth as soon as possible, if she ever gets here. I’ll know in a little while, as Pablo will theoretically arrive and take me to the airport.
Spent the previous (Saturday) afternoon and evening wandering Cuzco in a disoriented state, finding a killer local restaurant with home cooking (El Fogon) in one neighborhood and afterwards wandering through alleys and steep hillside streets, gasping for air. That’s probably why I went to bed freezing, under 20 pounds of wool blankets, with an altitude induced headache artfully combining stress and oxygen deprivation, impossible to alleviate.
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