Cusco – One Last Time

After Machu Picchu we needed to spend the night in Cusco before flying out to Lima and then to Buenos Aires in the morning. Our train only took us as far as Ollantaytambo and then we needed to get a cab ride to cusco, which was 90 minutes away. A nice couple from Britain shared a cab with us but I was so exhausted from the morning’s affairs, I barely spoke to anyone and Shannon slept. The views were amazing, but the cab driver kept closing his eyes like he was tired too I was getting very nervous we’d fly off the mountain (as they don’t have guard rails and we passed large trucks on one-lane roads frequently). He finally stopped to get a coke which, after he tried to open it while driving and almost hit an old man on a bike, I finally took it from him – opened it – and watched him drink the whole thing before I could finally relax.

We stayed at a hostel – in an ok part of town – but not really in a walking distance to anything “touristy”. We took a second cab from the main square and when he drove us the the requested address, we were scared because it looked a little sketchy. Shannon did the honors and went inside to bring back a full report while I kept throwing soles at the driver to request, mas tiempo (more time)! She said it was “sleepable” so we got all of our bags and walked in. The hostal was set up like a duplex, a family lived on one side and the other side was the sleeping for guests. The rooms locked and the beds were clean, so we decided to stick it out.

The owner sat us down and gave us cocoa tea…and kept calling us “most beautifoooool persons” and was honored to have us there. We were slightly freaked out by this guy and his overwhelming personality (and creepiness factor). We tried not to drink the tea but he stood over us and kept saying “drink drink, you must drink.” I finally chugged it so he would leave us a room and demanded the llaves (keys) and he said, “first you must take picture for publicity as you are such beautiful persons and then nap for one hour before going out to town.” I took one look at Shannon and she and I freaked out at the same time. We walked up the stairs with him and I told her we had to leave asap because if we were just drugged, I would rather pass out in a public square than to be there while randoms came out of the closets to kidnap us. She was freaked out too, and we decided that right after the pictures we’d leave. I carried my key through my fingers, ready to stab anyone who appeared. The creepy man dressed us in Peruvian gear, kept calling us beautiful people and then asked for our cameras. I felt better by the fact that HE was not taking our pictures with his camera but I still waited for someone to pop out of the closet at any time. After the pictures, we locked our door and then left for the next 3 hours. We shopped at the local market and found masks to wear and take more pictures of (these were the same strange masks that they wore in the fashion show coming back from Machu Picchu and had to take advantageous of them). We realized soon enough we were not drugged and decided to go home and make dinner in the room.

We had a great night’s sleep and were awoken to a nice meal of hot toast, jam and juices along with more cocoa tea before we left for the airport.

For the rest of the trip, we laughed uncontrollably at “beautifoool persons” and the outfits he made us wear and swore we barely made it out alive.

freaky outfits in cusco

more masks in cusco