Out of Cusco and into Machu Picchu (Plus a strike!)

The past couple of days have been pretty good. I flew to Cusco on Sunday afternoon. Good thing I got to the airport early as my flight was cancelled. Well, not cancelled exactly, more like nonexistant. I told the girl at the counter that I was supposed to be on an earlier flight than she ticketed me for. She looked at my itinerary, and as dismissively as you can, said "We don't run that flight today." Because of her attitude I just wanted to respond with, "Well then how did I book it smarty-pants?" but I let it go. Because I was there so early I got on an even earlier flight, so it worked out.

That afternoon I mainly hung around Cusco trying to take it easy. The altitude bothered me a little and Sunday night I felt a littl queasy, but other than that I didn't have any issues. Yesterday I got up and checked out a parade. It's fiesta week in Cusco so they had an all day parade going on. It was interesting, and nothing like what we have in the US. This one featured groups of local children dancing in brightly colored, traditional clothing. It was neat.

After that I checked out some churches and in the afternoon hiked up to the ruins at Sacsuhuayman. These are some Inca ruins dating back about 500 years. They were very neat to check out and the amount that the stone walls were preserved was amazing.

This morning I arrived in Machu Picchu Peublo, the little town at the entrance to the ruins. I use the word town loosely as it's more of a slum disguised as a tourist trap. It's interesting to say the least, and probably not as bad once I get used to it, but at least my hostel is pretty nice.

The train trip up was definitely a highlight as we passed through the Sacred Valley and into Machu Picchu. The mountains towering overhead were astounding. The sights were a little muted though, as the buzz was all about the coming strike. Imagine that, a strike while I'm here. As we pulled into the station, the staff went around informing everyone that tomorrow's trains were all going to be cancelled. They were helping in everyway they could to rebook people, either tonight or on Thursday. I leave on Friday and they expect it to end by then.

We'll see.