Spring Break: Part V

We still needed a day of recovery from Machu Picchu so we took it easy in Cusco on Monday strolling the streets and soaking up the local flavor, again. Cusco is a nice place. The center of the city is surrounded by little hills that are jam-packed with pueblos jutting out from the mountainside in every direction. The majority of the streets are cobblestones which make for a really quaint experience. Unfortunately it´s pretty touristy so it´s hard to feel like you´re getting to know the real Peru. My group is very cautious about the food and making sure we´re feeling well to take advantage of our vacation which restricts most local eateries from the list of lunch and dinner locales. Most of the restaurants offer a menu del dia which is a cheap two or three course meal that gives you a little local flavor like Peske de Quinoa, a variety of soups, lomo saltado, and aji de gallina.

We spent a good amount of time in San Blas, a bohemian section of Cusco right off of the Plaza de Armas. It was a nice place to stroll around and see some shops and local artist working on their crafts and explaining their exhibitions.

We wrapped up the day spending a little time observing the people in the plaza where we met a cute puppy named Nacho and saw a lamb frollicking around while it´s owner tried to wrangle it.

Around 6pm, we got our stuff from the hostel and organized our bags for our overnight bus ride from Cusco to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. We exited the hostel to find a huge procession blocking traffic and preventing us from hailing a cab. We trekked down the hill towards the bus station and finally were able to secure two tiny cabs for the six of us, our six suit cases, and six backpacks. It was a tight squeeze, but a short ride.


We arrived at an empty lot with no signs, no passengers, and no busses. We sat down, decided we´d approach the window and see if we were, in fact, in the right place. After standing in the Cargo line for five minutes, I asked the man in front of me where we needed to get our boarding passes. We had to exit the lot and go the the Cruz del Sur office around the corner. All went well and we got our passes, ate our assembly line PB & Js, checked our luggage, and boarded our bus. We were in the "first-class" of the bus. It was the first level, only nine seats and they were leather, wide, and insanely comfortable. After the excitement wore off, we all popped a dramamnie, ate the dry chicken sandwich, ham and cheese in a flaky pastry dough and slice of coffee cake, and went to bed. The ride was smooth for the most part. We were able to sleep uninterrupted except for speed-bumps and sharp turns through the mountains.


The most surprising thing about this bus was the security. In the US airport security is high, but Amtrak and other public transportation has very limited security. This bus had a metal detector and video footage of the passengers to know who was on and where they were sitting in case something happened. Since we´ve all heard horror stories of robberies on these overnight busses, these security checks helped us all sleep a little bit better.

Day 5: Sunday, September 13th, 8:15am to Sunday, September 13th, 9:30pm