Tuesday 2 July 2002
This morning was rather hectic. Our Dutch host on Hostal de Las Artes in Lima had purchased the airline tickets for us in advance and after checkout we were on our way by taxi to the airport. Due to the special weather condition around mountains, flights were recommended in the morning.
Domestic flight in Peru made us a bit anxious. The planes were of course a bit older than the ones we had traveled with previously, but they seemed nice and inspired confidence enough for us to forget the fact that bad economy just had liquidated one of the biggest airline company in Peru.
The flight was well and the view over the Andes Mountains was unbelievable. The clear sunlight marked all the tiny details, at least when the clouds didn't stole the view. The trip took about an hour and Cuzco appeared in a vast valley 3,326 meters beyond sea level. The airport was almost located right in the center of the city.
In Lima we had called the Hotel Los Nios and booked a room. We search the hotel on Internet and found it exciting as it served a higher purpose. A Dutch woman who wanted to help the street children in Peru founded the hotel in the mid 1990's. Visitors pays a bit more, but knowing that 10-12 homeless kids stays for free, gets free meals and a proper education, was a nice and modest contribution to the city. Today the project runs two hotels, and a restaurant, which serves free meals for street children. Their motto was: "we give you a story to tell", which was spot on targeted at backpacker travelers!
At the hotel we got the often-mentioned Coca-tea and was a bit excited about the taste. The tea should prevent altitude sickness, which we already felt coming. We had to be careful not walk to fast, as we suddenly became dizzy. Cuzco was such a nice city and it was so lovely to get up in the mountains and breath some fresh, clean air.
When walking around Cuzco we realized that this was a very beautiful city. It seemed obvious that the locals earned considerable more due to the many tourists. We approached a huge market and within half an hour we had bought the loveliest thick, soft alpaca plaid and two tiny, beautiful sweaters for our friends newborn kids.
The restaurants were absolutely designed for tourists and we had the "Beef Americana style" with everything possible to a bad steak: ham, cheese, egg, salad and French fries. Man, we felt bad after that one and my stomach just complained over it all night.