¡Gringo-mania! aka My First 2 days in Cusco

So, I realize it's been a while and I have a lot of catching up to do.

First things first; an addendum to the crazy drivers post. I was scheduled to leave Lima on Saturday morning at 5:50 AM. We got a cab to the airport at 4:15, giving me plenty of time to make it to the airport at 4:50 before they closed the flight... or so we thought. Our cabbie was a typical Peruvian driver, running red lights (often without even slowing down), honking constantly and swerving through lanes at rates of speed that made the ''Days of Thunder'' ride at King's Dominion feel like a walk in the park. He actually stopped at one red light, where he proceded to fall asleep. Awesome. Anyway, about 5 blocks from the airport, he pulls over with a flat left front tire. He wanted to change it there and take us to the airport, but we realized that we didn't have time for this. We proptly grabbed our bags and walked/jogged the rest of the way to the airport.

I made it to the gate at 4:55 and they tell me I am too late. I pled with the people at the check-in for 20 minutes to no avail. I am told I will have to reschedule my flight for tomorrow as TACA doesn't have any more flights to Cusco that day (It's only the most popular flight in Peru). I decided that this was unacceptable and went over to LAN airlines to buy a flight that day. I was very surprised to learn that flights on LAN were less expensive the day of travel than they were online 3 weeks before. The moral of the story: don't plan ahead.
Upon arrival in Cusco, the lack of air hits you like a sledge-hammer to the chest. Cusco's altitude is 10900 feet, which is a big difference from sea level in Lima. Fortunately the airport kindly hands out Mate de Coca, or Coca Tea. If you are unaware of Mate de Coca, it is a tea made from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a natural remedy for altitude sickness that has been used for thousands of years by the Incas and their ancestors. Yes, coca is the same plant that is used to make cocaine, but cocaine comes from the root of the plant and is a highly refined drug. Mate de Coca simply uses the dried leaves of the plant. It works wonders.

Now, on to my adventures in Cusco. As those of you who read Chad's blog are all-to-aware, I had a slight case of travelers gut on my last day in Lima. Well, karma is a bitch. Chad has been down for the count since Sunday night, though he is beginning to feel better today. (Editor's note: if you don't want every last detail of Chad's own illness, you may not want to read his next couple of posts). His being sick has forced me to step well outside of my comfort zone and do things on my own and meet fellow travellers. And have I ever.
Sunday, when Chad began to feel sick, I grabbed dinner with a few friends we had made the day before. Paul and Daphne are Canadians who are traveling with an American named Lauren and an Irishman named Maghnus (pronounced man-us). They are great people who are currently doing the Inka Jungle Trail trek that Chad and I will be doing whenever he can actually get out of bed. They actually invited us to come along with them, but we weren't able to book the same trip as them, which turned out to be a stroke of good luck for Chad. They were leaving early the next morning, so we all decided to call it an early evening.

Monday, I went down to central Cusco in search of a book and something to do while Chad lay in bed. At the bookstore I met Julia from the Netherlands. She is traveling through South America while on her Gap Year before attending university to study medicine. She invited me to Bungee jump with her and a couple of her friends, but I decided it would be best to go check on Chad.

That afternoon, I returned to the Plaza de Armas to purchase some post cards and do more sight seeing. While on a side-street near the plaza I was asked by a couple of Peruvian teenage girls if they could take a picture with me, the gringo. I obliged and was shocked to discover that these two teenage girls became a MOB of teenagers and their mothers. They all wanted pictures with me and I probably took 30 or so pictures with them. I have never experienced something so surreal in my life. Next, the teenage boys they were with wanted a picture with me as they were making fun of the girls' fascination with the gringo. Jokingly I asked the guys, "ahh gustan los gringos?" They loved it and complimented me on my Spanish (Castiliano). For about 5 minutes, I felt like a celebrity. It was fun for a while, but it got annoying. I don't know how they do it. It was seriously Gringo-mania, with touching and poking and everything. My stuff is still on me, so I actually think they were fascinated with a white guy and not trying to rob me (gotta be safe).

That's enough for this post. There should be another one this afternoon. More people and more stories. Machu Picchu (finally) tomorrow.

-Sean