We left Calgary at 3 pm on Monday and reached Denver around 6 pm. We had dinner at the airport by sampling a couple of restaurants (Wolfgang Puck and Cantina). After a 4 hour layover, we left for Houston and reached our hotel around 1:30 am. The hotel was right next to the airport. The overnight stay turned out to be a blessing as we got a chance to get some good sleep before the main flight to Peru.
On Tuesday morning, after having breakfast at our hotel, we left for Houston airport. Our flight was on time and we left around 3 pm. It was a Boeing 767 with very comfortable seats but since we had slept at the hotel, we passed the 6.5 hours flight by watching three movies: Elysium, World War Z and After Earth. The entertainment system had great options so we're sure that we'll be entertained on our return flight too. We reached Lima (the capital of Peru) at 11:30 pm local time. Peru is just one time zone east of Calgary's time zone but since they are not observing Daylight savings, Peru is two hours ahead of Calgary in time. We had a very smooth immigration at the airport and the officer virtually didn't ask any questions at all (perhaps because he didn't speak English too fluently). After collecting our bags, we checked-in for our next flight to Cusco and then checked out a few shops at the airport. The Lima airport is quite advanced and we guess that so is the city. We'll explore Lima at the end of our trip. The domestic flight to Cusco was very nice - new aircraft, helpful staff and comfortable seats. We were tired by that time so we slept through the flight. We landed in Cusco at 7 am but our hotel's complimentary shuttle wasn't there so we took a cab to the hotel. Since we didn't know about the value of the local currency (Peruvian soles), we overpaid the cab driver with 30 soles - approximately $14 which is very reasonable for North American standards but our hotel receptionist told us that the ride was worth 10 soles or around $4.
Our hotel Tierra Viva is nice and clean and the service is efficient. It's a chain hotel and we'll be staying at Tierra Viva hotels in other cities too. Our room was at the 3rd floor and by the time we reached our room after taking stairs, we were out of breath - a combination of high altitude and our tiredness. We got altitude sickness medicine from a travel clinic in Calgary but the medicine had not fully kicked in by then. Our lungs seem to be acclimatizing with time though.
We slept for a few hours and then left to explore the Main Square which is a ten minute walk from our hotel. The architecture of most buildings in the square is old and even the McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks are in small shops within these old two-floor-buildings. The highlight of the square is an old church and an old chapel. Since it was Christmas Day, the square was quite festive with decorations and fireworks. We had lunch at the best restaurant of Cusco (Cicciolina). We realized that we don't like the local Peruvian food too much so we're planning on sticking to more familiar options in future. Then we got coffee at Starbucks and strolled on the Main Street of Cusco. On our way back, we bought tickets for an overnight bus that has seats that recline to 140 degrees for sleeping. We'll be taking that bus when we leave Cusco for the next city of Puno which is about 7 hours drive away. The bus will leave at 10 pm on Sunday so we'll sleep through the entire journey, hopefully. Then we went back to our hotel to freshen up and came back for a quick dinner at McDonalds.
In Cusco, we have 5 days - Wednesday to Sunday. On Wednesday, we explored the Cusco downtown on foot and acclimatized ourselves to the high altitude. The plan for the remaining four days is that we'll be exploring the museums of Cusco on one day, doing a city tour of Cusco on another day, exploring the Sacred Valley area for a day and then the main highlight Machu Picchu (the lost city of the Incas) on Saturday. The Machu Picchu day is fixed since we booked the tickets in advance but the other three days we can decide based on what's available and our schedule.
On Tuesday morning, after having breakfast at our hotel, we left for Houston airport. Our flight was on time and we left around 3 pm. It was a Boeing 767 with very comfortable seats but since we had slept at the hotel, we passed the 6.5 hours flight by watching three movies: Elysium, World War Z and After Earth. The entertainment system had great options so we're sure that we'll be entertained on our return flight too. We reached Lima (the capital of Peru) at 11:30 pm local time. Peru is just one time zone east of Calgary's time zone but since they are not observing Daylight savings, Peru is two hours ahead of Calgary in time. We had a very smooth immigration at the airport and the officer virtually didn't ask any questions at all (perhaps because he didn't speak English too fluently). After collecting our bags, we checked-in for our next flight to Cusco and then checked out a few shops at the airport. The Lima airport is quite advanced and we guess that so is the city. We'll explore Lima at the end of our trip. The domestic flight to Cusco was very nice - new aircraft, helpful staff and comfortable seats. We were tired by that time so we slept through the flight. We landed in Cusco at 7 am but our hotel's complimentary shuttle wasn't there so we took a cab to the hotel. Since we didn't know about the value of the local currency (Peruvian soles), we overpaid the cab driver with 30 soles - approximately $14 which is very reasonable for North American standards but our hotel receptionist told us that the ride was worth 10 soles or around $4.
Our hotel Tierra Viva is nice and clean and the service is efficient. It's a chain hotel and we'll be staying at Tierra Viva hotels in other cities too. Our room was at the 3rd floor and by the time we reached our room after taking stairs, we were out of breath - a combination of high altitude and our tiredness. We got altitude sickness medicine from a travel clinic in Calgary but the medicine had not fully kicked in by then. Our lungs seem to be acclimatizing with time though.
We slept for a few hours and then left to explore the Main Square which is a ten minute walk from our hotel. The architecture of most buildings in the square is old and even the McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks are in small shops within these old two-floor-buildings. The highlight of the square is an old church and an old chapel. Since it was Christmas Day, the square was quite festive with decorations and fireworks. We had lunch at the best restaurant of Cusco (Cicciolina). We realized that we don't like the local Peruvian food too much so we're planning on sticking to more familiar options in future. Then we got coffee at Starbucks and strolled on the Main Street of Cusco. On our way back, we bought tickets for an overnight bus that has seats that recline to 140 degrees for sleeping. We'll be taking that bus when we leave Cusco for the next city of Puno which is about 7 hours drive away. The bus will leave at 10 pm on Sunday so we'll sleep through the entire journey, hopefully. Then we went back to our hotel to freshen up and came back for a quick dinner at McDonalds.
In Cusco, we have 5 days - Wednesday to Sunday. On Wednesday, we explored the Cusco downtown on foot and acclimatized ourselves to the high altitude. The plan for the remaining four days is that we'll be exploring the museums of Cusco on one day, doing a city tour of Cusco on another day, exploring the Sacred Valley area for a day and then the main highlight Machu Picchu (the lost city of the Incas) on Saturday. The Machu Picchu day is fixed since we booked the tickets in advance but the other three days we can decide based on what's available and our schedule.
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