Bill writes from Cusco

We arrived in Cusco from Chiclayo via Lima yesterday and what a beautiful city up in the hills.  It is situated at 3,400 meters or 11,150 feet if you prefer. Elevation sickness is a concern and they suggest you leave Cusco to a place of a little lower elevation nearby upon your arrival for a few days and of course we didn't. We are taking medication to deal with altitude sickness and have been quite lucky. We may have some minor symptoms but we are doing fine. We aren't even sure they are symptoms but we aren't taking any chances. We are taking it slow as recommended. Tomorrow we will likely go out for a small hike-nothing too strenuous. Cusco is worth seeing and there are lots of things to do and see in a very old and clean city. We aren't able to compare prices here to other places in Peru but accept that prices are higher but not extremely so, we think.

As you probably all know in Medellin I lost my merino wool top I planned to use as a middle layer when hiking. We were unable to find any merino wool items other than socks in any of the numerous stores in Cusco or any of the other places we have been.  The one I lost cost in excess of $200 so I was prepared to pay again some exorbitant amount for a replacement. All we could find was polyester until we went to a local market where I was able to purchase an alpaca sweater that will do the job very well and being alpaca wool I expected it to cost quite a bit. It cost 38 Sols which is less than $10. Now that is a bargain without any haggling. It also looks pretty good and will be something I will wear when we get home

It is sunny and warm in Cusco during the day but cool at night. We were told it does not rain a lot  but there was a short hail storm after our arrival to welcome us to this sacred area. Our hotel and we expect most buildings and homes to be the same has no source of heat. Our hotel by our standards and I think by most people's standards is quite nice. But most importantly we have hot water. Tonight we will take some of the blankets off our bed when getting ready to sleep. There is a significant weight to the blankets making it difficult to sleep.

On Tuesday next we will start our climb and we are both very excited. It is something I have wanted to do for about 20 years and it will be a completion of one of those bucket list things. It is safe other than some aches and pains and we will have guides and porters so we go looking forward to the experience with eyes wide open.

Love and best wishes to you all


Sent from my iPad

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