Day 1 (and 2): Lima y Cuzco, Peru

Well, now is as good of a time as any to start blogging.

What a day+ of travel it has been! This Peru trek (just getting here) makes any camping trip I've done in the states seem like a cakewalk.

Well, as the great queen said: Let them eat cake! [Sidenote: she was murdered.]

I am working on eating mine.

But really, I'm working on some caldo de gallino from across the street from my Cuzco hostel. It's the first real food I've had in about 3 days which isn't good. Maybe I came down with some kind of early travel bug because I can't stomach the smell much less the taste of most food. I need fuerza if I plan to make it across this vast country and up into Ecuador!

Anyway, caldo in bed is happening. Interesting: across the street, my caldo estaba servido en bolsa sin cuchara. Pues, forward thinking V brought her own chopsticks and cuchara/tenedor combo (shout out Hong Kong Supermarket). Also, looks like this must be a standard thing because I asked the front desk hombre for a bowl and he brought me a lovely bowl on a platter.

So, apparently most hostels are booked because of one of three reasons: 1) Navidad; 2) la lluvia (that never stops apparently); or 3) that one dude's birthday party (que?). So, my taxista amable Cesar (who is a mad hustler apparently; he also runs multiple tour companies) found me one of the "few" hostels left - a whopping $30 per night. My jaw dropped when I heard that as I was anticipating paying around $6-$15 for a decent hostel with 24 hour agua caliente (apparently, some hostels offer hot water, but not 24 hours of it. Yup.)

Maybe it was poor planning on my part, but I seriously did not expect the daytime temperature in Peru to be like 50 degrees (tal vez porque de la lluvia). Anyway, I'm seriously cold and the hostel doesn't offer any sort of warming apparatus or device. I definitely miss heaters. I would think they had heaters here for when it snowed? Pero, I asked and they looked at me as though I was entitled and crazy, both of which are probably partially true.

Well, off to bed with me, all the layers I can muster intact. So tired.