Into Thin Air

Happy Halloween from Cusco, Peru! After an ungodly early flight from Lima, we arrived in Cusco at the wonderful hour of 6am. We then promptly got dropped at the wrong hostel right next to a construction site. Wearing sour faces, we managed to get the owner of our hostel to retrieve us. With barely a moment's glance around Southern Comfort Hostel (So-Co for the drinkers out there), we fell into our bunks. Later, we got lost on our way to explore the city center, though on the plus side we saw some untracked parts of Cusco. This city is wildly different from Lima as it's busy, bustling and full of international travelers. At 11,000 feet, we can feel the altitude with every step up (which are most steps, given that this city is nestled in the mountains).

After exploring Cusco's Plaza de Armas and surrounding streets, we settled for a long lunch at a restaurant called Greens. For our Bay Area readers, Cusco's Greens is exactly like the version in San Francisco, albeit vegetable empanadas replace polenta and vegetable spreads. Nonetheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of vegetables and other fiber-rich foods. As time is of the essence, these are our latest highlights:

1. Hiking UP to the Saqsaywaman Inca ruins a mile outside of Cusco. Reminiscent of the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan and elsewhere in Central America, they're mountain-top location afforded excellent 360 views of Cusco. Indiginous women and children flocked this tourist mecca with their alpacas in tow.

2. And then we ate alpaca for lunch...Surprisingly unlike goat in flavor, the texture was certainly tough and sinewy. Prepared in a stew alongside rice, tubers and potatoes, the overall effect was almost delicious, though not as unfavorable as one might expect.

3. One of the perks of our hostel is an Anj and Dev sized bathroom. So for the rest of you tall people, it would feel like a trip down the rabbit hole; to us, it's a perfect fit. However, all was not well in paradise - the altitude caused all our lotions to inflate so Devon tragically sprayed one of Anjali's few outfits with lotion. And then there was the surprise in the toilet...Needless to say, we've spent some time in the normal-sized bathroom since then.

4. Last night we went to the Museo de Nativos to see a traditional dance and music performance. Though many women throughout Cusco wear traditional clothes - emboidered, vibrantly colored skirts and full brimmed hats - it was fun to see a typical Cuscenan dance that has been passed down for generations.

We're off in search of some semblance of Halloween festivities, though reportedly there is a Halloween party at our hostel as spiderwebs and black and orange balloons are suddenly appearing all around us...