Slept in today, and took our time to ´get going´. This touring takes a lot of energy - forget the altitude of the region ... it just takes work! One needs time off every now and then, so today we chose to take it easy. Once rested, we felt much better about our ´new´ world. I´m definitely less anxious about our trek now that I´ve had a good night´s sleep. Thank goodness! Bruce is also feeling better, which means that he will be able to do the trek in fairly good health. Just what we wished for!
Reviewed our documents and ´must-do´s for today. Because we arrange our own tours and adventures, when we hit a town, we need to contact people and agencies to ensure that all is in place. This is time-consuming, but it does take us to different areas of town that we would not normally have the opportunity to see.
Leaving Ninos Hotel, we went off to seek Eco-Amazonian Tours, to confirm reservations and pay for our jungle tour - June 17 - 21. Then we went to Andean Treks to ensure that we were indeed registered for the Inca Trail, and to find out about our Saturday´s initial group meeting.
Then, we wandered about Cusco, ate lunch, checked out the Plaza D´Armas, marvelled at the architecture, Inca & Spanish, and generally got a feel for downtown ´touristy´Cusco. And touristy it is! Everyone wants the tourists to purchase all their wares - so hands reach out to you constantly! We are continually saying - no, gracias!
Went on a church tour, Iglesia de la Campania de Jesus, the first Jesuit Church in Cusco. We even had our own guide who provided us with additional information which we would have missed had we been on our own. It was once more confirmed for us, Christianity and Inca traditions are interwoven - one sees this in the statues and the manner in which the altars are decorated. Truly an interesting concept! Christ on the cross, wears a skirt, as Peruvian men used to. Mary´s elaborate dress symbolizes the Andes Mountains, so her skirts are full & flowing, decorated with flower symbols, painted or hand-sewn. The Cusco religious art has flowers, fruits, & vegetables of the region, and gold leaf is added to the painting. The gold symbolizes the ´sun god´of the Incas.
Purchased a wool hat for the trek plus a few souvenirs. Ate dinner at a pizzeria, of which there are dozens in Cusco. Listened to a Peruvian band in the square and became disoriented because the crowds were so thick. Demonstrations are happening every day in Cusco - we saw 3 today. Do not know what is going on, but people are marching for something. We do find it difficult to breathe on the streets of Cusco, as the deisel fumes drive us mad, and vehicles are everywhere. Walking can be a bit treacherous, as pot holes are frequent in the cobbled walks. Can hardly wait for our mountain walk!
Sat., after completing the necessities of daily travel life, banking, paying the hotel, ensuring reservations for our return, etc., we attended our initial meeting with our climbing group at Andean Treks. Fifteen of us altogether. One half of our group members are closer to our ages, the other half, much younger. Our guides, Caesar and Wilson appear to be accommodating, although a little disorganized. We will be trusting our lives with these two -
Visited the neat artsy shopping are of San Blas area in Cusco.
Made sure we had a decent meal for dinner, and literally prepared ourselves for our Sunday morning pickup for ´the´ trek at 6:30 a.m. Here´s hoping and praying all goes well!
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