Before I started my Day 4 story, I must mention a side story: after I came back from the dinner last night, I decided to take a shower, it was a HOT shower finally, thank you Lord! I actually indulged myself to stay under the shower a bit longer. There are less people taking shower at night than morning, so the hot water works, I should have known. It would be a good shift for me, since after I go back to Hong Kong, as the locals do, I probably would start taking shower at night anyway.
Left to the airport at 6:30am, Lima airport is international enough and easy to check in and get through to the gate. There is a US$6 departure tax. At 9:00am, the flight takes off, soon we are already over the Andes. Amazing mountains view, I must say, and I am impressed how the Peruvians are able to live on those steep hillsides, way up where I am on the aircraft, you can still see the the roofs of their houses and their long and winding roads along the mountains, extending miles and miles and miles, like every bit of land, no matter how inconvenient, can be of some use to them.
Cuzco, a city at 3400m above sea level, after stepping out of the aircraft, all I feel is that the sun is much more intense. It is not too hot, nor cold really, around 15C maybe, it's slightly hotter under the sun. I have 2 t-shirts and 2 light jackets on, probably a bit to the heavy side, but I was not sweating. I don't have headache, the altitude sickness medicine works I supposed, although I feel slightly light-headed, like floating after a long boat ride, feel tired and thirsty. At this level, there are only 1/3 of the air compared to the air at sea-level. So, it takes a triple deeper breathe to get as much air in as you would do. I definitely feel like there are less oxygen being circulate around my body and up to the brain especially. It is also easier to get dehydration. I drink more water, also pee a lot. My brain seems to operate a bit slow too, at the moment.
I am staying at a homestay with a local family, the host family seems very friendly people, a big family, their complex consists of two main two level building, a courtyard and some small one-level offices next to the courtyard. The house lady speaks very very few english, but like my mom, telling me you need to drink coca tea, drink a lot of them, she emphazises, and sleep, get enough rest... I have been put to bed right after finishing my coca tea. There are some children in the house, not sure if that is good for me or not, you know me and the kids, and a big dog, his eyes are red and have a big pimples near his eyes, is that normal? He is constantly coming over to me and have one of his hand on my lap, signal that I should pet him. His hair is more like the Bob Marley kind, though not as stylist, but as greasy and stick together. I suspect he has not taken a shower for years. I was like... O-kay... ah..good boy. There is also an american student here, named Amanda, she has been here for 2 weeks already, so she is able to communicate a little with the family. I told her, I am more like a cat person. She smiles at me and says she thinks the dog is dirty too. But he is a good dog, very quiet, just friendly.
It's much quiet up here, first time to see the blue sky of Peru, everything is illuminated. I guess I can finally sleep, get some really restful sleep. The only problem with this place is that I can't connect my laptop to internet. Without that, it would be more difficult to upload photo, blog and make phone calls back home...etc. The next few days, I will have to look around the nearby stores to see if anywhere I can get my laptop connected.
Alright, another nap's calling. More tomorrow.
Photos here: Day 4
Footnote: Feeling much better today than the past few days, I think I was a bit in culture shock in Lima (surprise to say having visited so many different places in the world). But after yesterday's afternoon and last night, things were actually getting a bit better. My first impression of Cuzco is that this would be much easier city to get used, though more countryside, but much quieter, friendlier, more like a big village really. Gonna spent the next 3 and half weeks to find out more what's going on here.
