Peru Day 2: Cusco

Arriving in Cusco is a dramatic event. Your plane swoops low between the mountains, alarmingly close to the mountain faces on all sides, and you still can't see hte runway. Your face is glued to the window, looking for reassuring signs of a safe landing. But all you see are jagged mountain faces. And then suddenly, a sharp turn around a steep mountain edge, you think you might just fall out the plane, and suddenly there you are, right at the foot of the runway. The plane screeches to the ground and grinds to a halt. There's no room for error in this manoever. And you breathe a sigh of relief, you are alive after all.

Or you try to breathe a sigh of relief. Except you realise, all of a sudden, that you can't breathe at all. There's just not much oxgen in the air. Welcome to Cusco.

We jumped in a cab, told the cabbie where our hotel was, and sat back to take in the sights. Not much rest for the weary though. For suddenly, the cab rumbled to a halt in the middle of an unimaginably thin lane. "Here you go!" Said the cabbie cheerfully, opening the door to usher us out.

"Where? Where?!" Delta and I asked in puzzlement. There was no hostel in sight. "Just at the top of those stairs," he indicated with a pleasant nod of his head. We turned to look where he had pointed, and our jaws dropped in unison. As far as our eyes could see, there were stairs. Before we could gather our wits, our driver gave us the spanish equivalent of "toodle-oo!" and off he was, just a disappearing cloud of dust in our yearning. So with no option before us, Delta and I hauled our 40-lb bags onto our backs, and slowly, slowly, started clambering up the stairs. Try doing that when the air offers you no oxygen.

Needless to say, I thought I might just die. Or dry-heave, at the very least. But just in time, we reached the top, and were greeted by the most lovely little hostal we had ever stayed in. Almost, just almost, worth the battle.

After we'd settled in, it didn't take long at all to meet up with the rest of the gang. And with the unbridled excitement of vacations just beginning, we ventured out to explore the town. Cusco is a charming combination of Incan and colonial architecture. With its tiny cafes and cobbled streets, it was the perfect place to make our base.

The first meal we had in Cusco, I learnt that Peruvian corn is huge. Just huge. The first time I saw one of the kernels, I thought it might be a tooth I'd lost. But no, it just happens that Peruvian corn has kernels the size of gumballs. In time, I learnt that it brings with it an economy of effort. More corn in less bites. But right then, before I'd put it in my mouth and learnt how delish it was, all I could think was how it rather gave me the jeebies.