We planned a trip to Cusco today partly as something special for Steph and Cherie on their birthdays and partly for the mere experience of a day in Cusco for Andrew’s family. Andrew and Lauretta are familiar with Latin America, having lived in Guatemala some years ago, but their children know only the States.
We walked out to the road and caught a combi. I was pleased that we could all fit in at once. We then needed to find a place to purchase saldo for Lauretta’s phone. We had put $10 of data on, but there was some app(s) that gobbled up all the data in the background.
We then hopped on a bus headed to Cusco. The fare lady charged us for every seat occupied instead of by age, so it cost S/35. That’s certainly the most I’ve paid to get to Cusco!
The bus terminal is still closed. We were dropped off at a street corner from which we walked up to San Pedro to visit the tourist market. Andrew’s children wanted to find ponchos.
We found some nice ones at good prices after a good bit of searching. Andrew did well at haggling the prices down. While we shopped, we were repeatedly startled by fireworks going off in the plaza outside. They were tremendously loud.
Steph and Lauretta ran into Orion while I took half of the children to the public restroom, and Andrew stayed in the plaza with the others. We then walked down the hill to the Mercado Paraíso. It’s a large building filled with many, many little shops. It was fun to walk through and see what all they had to offer.
We then tried to catch a bus to the mall, but I struggled to figure out which one would take us. We did eventually find one that could take us, but they were requiring face shields, which we didn’t have. After much jostling about on crowded sidewalks, we finally caught a bus to Real Plaza.
I found a transformer at Promart that will be strong enough to run the coffee maker Peter and Maryann brought in November. Then we had the highlight of the day–lunch in the food court! We had chicken, burgers, fries, and pizza. Fantastic.
The ladies and a few children then went to Plaza Vea to do some shopping while the rest of us waited near the escalator. To kill time, we bought ice cream. The women and children with them got some when they came out.
Next, we had to find where the buses to Izcuchaca were leaving Cusco. We walked here then there then back again. The children thought it was great fun. The adults weren’t as convinced. At last, we found a bus.
Back to Izcuchaca, we separated. The ladies and half the children went to get churros and head home. It was lightly raining by this time. Andrew and I and the other children went searching for caldo de gallina, a dish with chicken feet and yucca that we wanted for supper.
Though I searched high and low, I could not find the food for supper. We did get rather wet. We also found a cake shop and let Cherie pick out a birthday cake. Then we caught a combi home. Lauretta brought the truck out to the road to pick us up so we didn’t need to walk in through the rain, which was beyond a drizzle by that point.
Showers, then Ramen noodles and churros for supper, followed by birthday cake, accompanied by coffee from my new coffee maker. A great way to end a long day.
Juan David 