Today was a travel day. We took the canoe out of the jungle to Puerto Maldonado for the flight over the Andes into the heart of Inca territory, Cusco. The canoe ride was lovely with the breeze and the temperatures cooler first thing in the morning. Then it was into a non-air conditioned, old bus for the bumpy, dusty ride to pick iup our stored luggage and repack it for the flight to Cusco. We were NOT impressed with the bus ride and made our feelings known. We were covered in sweat and dust. 

Upon arrival in Cusco (pronounced Cossco by the locals) we immediately noticed the thin clear mountain air, a result of the City's high altitude. We were told that we should spendt the first day quietly relaxing and taking things easy as we acclimatize. Our travel doctor gave us altitude sickness pills which we started taking yesterday so, hopefully, we won't have any effects from the high altitudes.

Many people get altitude sickness. Altitude sickness occurs when you cannot get enough oxygen from the air at high altitudes. This causes symptoms such as a headache, dizziness, loss of appetite, and trouble sleeping. We are finding that our mouths feel very dry and our skin also. It happens most often when people who are not used to high altitudes go quickly from lower altitudes to 8000 ft (2438 m) to higher altitudes. Cusco is 11,000 ft. In contrast Lima is about 5,100 ft.  
   
We arrived at the hotel late in the afternoon, got settled and the group went to a typical Peruvian restaurant. The food was amazing. None of us was expecting the food to be a memorable part of the trip but it has been. There are 3800 varieties of potatoes (the Irish have nothing on these people) and 2063 varieties of corn. Needless to say you find these in most dishes. 
 
We have yet another early morning tomorrow and can only take a backpack so it was back to the hotel to pack our meager supplies for our next adventure.