Sarah Too

3 AM is always so much more exciting when you stay up until then (like the Brits, who were still playing cards), not as a wake-up hour! Larry, Ryan, Tami and I woke to the sound of my wristwatch. [This trip was the first time I wore a wristwatch 24/7 since about 4 years ago, when I cast off watches in favor (??) of laptops, cell phones, dashboards, and wall clocks. Who needs a watch when everything else is telling you what time it is??] Anywho, at 3:30 AM, we were packed and rattling down the city streets with Francis, who seems to moonlight as not only a lost baggage advocate, but as a taxi driver.

Ryan retrieved his "delayed baggage" from Copa Airlines and we all checked ourselves and our bags into our 5:35 AM TACA Airlines flight to Cusco. At the terminal, we met up with Amanda and Lindsey, who had been in the Lima airport all night. For everyone's happy face, look below:





Yeah, that's everyone at 4:45 AM. Without coffee. And we're sooooo excited to get on another plane!!

When we landed at Cusco airport, there was a band playing Peruvian/Andean music with drums and costumes and bottled oxygen for sale. Cusco is at 10,860 feet above sea level - a significant change from my home base of 13 feet above sea level - and your body starts to feel it almost immediately. The dull headache and the labored breathing...The thirst! The mountains are so dry! But more about that later...Landing in Cusco was our first step towards Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail...

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