Day Two, Thursday, 27 May

Arrive Cusco -- our pick-up, Pepe (little Joe), arranged by me through Jorge (hotel owner of three Eco(logical) hotels we end up staying in/ social activist/helper) is not here.

Oh, no. Lucky for the rental phone the young woman pushed on me at the Lima airport

last night -- could have sold me anything at that point, of course ... our resistance was way down as fatigue set in ...

We call the driver -- no luck. try. try. try. nada ...

Then we think to call Jorge himself -- yes! the protector of our endeavor scold/calls one of his guys -- within minutes we're greeted by not only his guy but Jorge himself who wants to see with his own eyes that we have transportation and are secure.

Cusco Hotel -- upscale digs, ( we've just come from our Lima stay). Seems weird, in a way, lots of hot coca tea, (yes it's legal and which we need for the altitude sickness we now know we are fighting --shortness of breath, hard to breathe, kind of dizzy, really, really tired). We take a walk to the Plaza -- it's dark -- we end up buying Alpacan Indian hats and gloves and scarves from some street market stalls . My bartering skills, not practiced in the Latin style

for a while, aren't at all bad ...

Back to the hotel -- dinner, laughs, and we decide "What happens in Peru stays in Peru" ...

for some reason we really laugh, it's not that funny, but we are in hysterics.

Then, at 9:30 pm we decide to take them up on 1/2 hour massages for $20 American money. I'm in Wonderland, I also tack on a manicure for around $9 American money ...

my hands are a mess -- nails torn and jagged due to the trip prep and travel ..the delay, though

pleasant, has exhausted me. We sleep, arise and leave the hotel at 8 am to go to Puno --port of Lake Titicaca where the reed people live. Arrive in the dark -- stop along the way to

see some small, pretty unexciting 'ruins' -- some shored up by old boards -- but a good place for

drivers to stop with tourists so locals can sell wares --. So, o.k., we do buy. Little tchatkes

like Andean wood flute (quena) for my music-major son. My companions deliberate on

some textiles and ceramics and end up with little ceramic birds that whistle with one tone when you blow into them and then a different tone when filled with water. ¡Preciosos!

Back in the car, the ride with Pepe is a blast -- great conversations in Spanish .. great Incan

music on his CD player and finally Louis Armstrong (he wants to surprise his American friends) with "What a Wonderful World."

Arrive Lake Titicaca (Puno) in the dark ... check into another Eco Hotel. Crash.