having a great time in Cusco! our trip to lima was a bit brutal. we boarded the plane in newark at 2pm, with a flight time of 2 50, and then there was a two hour delay due to fuel pump problems. because our flight was delayed so much we ended up having to circle lima for an hour before landing. nearly 10 hours on the plane!
once in lima we settled in for a three hour nap in the hotel, and thence to the airport for our flight here. cusco is crazy energetic, filthy, gorgeous, and delicious. i felt fine the first 8 hours or so, but became terribly sick at dinner the first day, weak and nauseous. chicken broth and coca leaves helped. by night time i was aclimated to 12000 ft.
we toured Sacsayhuaman and saw the magnificent rock work and the prep for Inti Raymi. the whole city was abuzz with anticipation of this annual incan sun fest, and the crowds rivaled obama´s inauguration. we spent a lot of time just watching the parades and floats and musicians. i made many great movies on my kodak youtube movie maker, but unfortunately you can´t see them. i was victimized by a crew of professional indian pick pockets who´d obviously been watching me for some time. They knew exactly what pocket to go for, and spit in my face in a big crowd from the right side, then swarmed me pointing upwards trying to distract me. i knew pretty quickly what was up and put my hand down but it was too late. a small child had already made off with last years Xmas gift from mom! A terrible loss, especially because of the videos i´d made. dammit! i had thought earlier in the day that i needed to be on guard, and how lucky i´ve been to visit 16 countries withtout such problems (tho we came close to being robbed by Gypsies in Rome and by confidence specialists in Derry).
tomorrow we are off to machu piccu. Can ya dig? thence to puno and titicaca. i´ll be sad to leave cusco, however. the food is awesome and the people are great. even the the thieves and street hawkers
2 comments:
Sorry about the loss of your videos. I know how bad that is. I'm just glad you are okay and they didn't do you harm. We can always get you another camera! Stay safe!
that sucks about your camera, pictures are the most important thing! There was a day when we were in Paris and I was on my own since John had groomsmen duties to attend to. And I was walking around with my camera taking photos, and I felt like I was being watched. And when I was leaning over a railing I dropped a small and cheap camera bag. And within a second it was snatched up and the person ran away. Thank goodness there was nothing in it. But I was sad and upset nonetheless. I just hate feeling like prey. But they basically got away with a cheapo camaera covering that was probably worth $5. So screw them. Theives suck.
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