The flight in was short (about 1 hour 10 minutes), bouncey and packed. Beautiful views of the Andes on the left side of the plane. I wasn´t given any opportunity to choose my seat. I was placed next to two women - I offered them Mentos; in exchange, one gave me a candy to suck made of coca. It tasted pretty good and I think got me through the first stages of the attitude change. After collecting my suitcase, I looked for the GAP rep and couldn´t find him - walked outside and there were all the agents holding signs. By this time, I was almost silly with exhaustion but eager to look out the window on the way into the downtown area. Everywhere dogs running loose, women cooking in large pots by the side of the road, quite a bit of dust.
At the hotel, I was very early for check-in but they scrambled to find me a room. While I was waiting, they served me coca tea. The room is small but adequate and yeah, there is hot water. Coca tea is free 24 hours a day by the reception. I may have to request a change as it is right on the main floor where everyone passes by, but I´ll wait to see. There is a security box at the front desk - I deposited half my cash, my visa and my passport. My iPod is small enough to just travel with me, and of coure I won´t let my friend´s camera out of my sight. The hotel is very close to the main square. I haven´t gotten lost yet but expect to. No worries. I did ask where the "dangerous" section of town was so won´t be heading in that direction.
After sitting for a few minutes to catch my breath, I suddenly felt very dizzy and light-headed. It was then I realized it had been about 25 hours since I slept. I pulled a pillow over my head and crashed for 3 1/2 hours.
The one thing about many of the restaurants here is that they are on the second floor and big signs like we have in Canada are nowhere to be found. I am glad I wrote down some addresses, like this place opposite the cathedral on the main square, Trotamundos. You have to walk through another store to reach the stairs. It has a beautiful view across the sqaure - I ate an avocado sandwich and had a good North American coffee sin leche on the balcony (aprox. $3 if I remember correctly) - faster internet connection, and clean washrooms.
After lunch I visited the South American Explorers Club for advice on the bus to Pisac (apparently easy), to ask for recommneded tour guides for Moray. The trip to Moray has turned into a frustration as the tour agency they recommended wanted a minimum of 4 people and I was unable to find LlamaPath, the one I had planned to go with. I will have to try one of the travel "hawkers" as I want to go tomorrow. I was hoping to book for the morning and have a massage in the afternoon.
I had heard stories about really pushy sellers here but so far no one has been super persistent. I found they were far more aggressive in Puerto Vallarta.
Anyway I still want to try to arrange this tour, so I´m going to sign off now and get back on the hunt.
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