Day 9: May 7 (Derek)

Cusco

We arrived safely in Cusco, after a pretty 'exciting' landing, swooping down into the mountains after a short flight. At a couple of points we seemed to be turning with the plane banked at a 45 degree angle, and then for whatever reason the pilot missed the landing strip and had to do it all over again. The girls giggled the whole time -I think the were mostly oblivious. I noticed the air hostesses were very calm, so I assumed all this was routine and decided there was no reason to be worried, but it was one of those times when your mind has to convince your instincts otherwise.

Cusco is about 3300 m in altitude, and the change is definitely noticeable. We took yesterday afternoon very easy, and made sure to drink lots of water and coca tea. Even so, just walking up hills left us short of breath. We went out for supper and I could barely eat a few bites, then we all stumbled like zombies back to our apartment. Luckily Cristina was in better shape and didn't seem as affected (though today things seem to be reversed as I am more or less fine, and she is taking a rest).

We are staying in a very spacious two-bedroom apartment, with the kids' bedroom on a second half-level. The apartment is in an 18th century building and overlooks a beautiful courtyard, only four blocks from the main square of Cusco. Cusco itself is kind of like one might imagine from pictures of rural Peru - cobbled streets, ancient churches, people everwhere, many dressed in traditional clothing, the women carrying their babies in rainbow coloured blankets, and the old women wearing top hats and bowler hats and skirts with sweaters and tall woolen socks. And kids all over the place, with parents or by themselves, often trying to sell us a shoe shine, or souvenirs, or photos of themselves in traditional dress. Many people here are poor and make their living selling things in the street, although there are also people who do have means, which you can tell from their cellphones, iPods, and fashionable jeans. Cusco does seem to have a number of organizations that help street kids and rural families, through education, nutrition projects, business development training, and so on. We are looking into which organizations give proceeds to these kinds of work, so we can decide how to spend our money best.

We also visited the traditional market, where you can buy anything from delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, to grains, bread, and cheese, to animal parts of all sorts (feet, heads, intestines, and more, all prominently on display on wooden counters, which they will cook up for you if you ask). For breakfast we found bananas, mandarins, and bread for less than 10 cents each, and for lunch, sandwiches for 33 cents, and heaping plates of beans and rice for less than 2 dollars per person.

We've been having a break as the mountain sun is very hot, but we'll be going out again soon, so I will post more later.