We've arrived!!

Sunday, June 3rd

One short plane trip to a new planet!

We left Lima for Cusco via a StarPeru flight at 8.30 AM.  The start of the trip was interesting.  You have to get in a bus that drives you to the plane waiting for you on the tarmac.  When we got to the plane, there was already a bus standing there and passengers were going up the stairs into the plane.  This was strange because no other bus had left our gate before us.  A brief animated discussion ensued.  It turned out that they were boarding the wrong plane and no one had caught this till our bus showed up! 

After that all went well.  The plane broke through the first bank of clouds and started climbing steeply.  The terrain rose to meet the plane sending up sharp jagged peaks that seemed about the scrape the fuselage,  that made for a jaw dropping sight.  The arid brown landscape stood out in sharp contrast to the snow on the tallest peaks and some lakes and valleys.  Cusco lies in a bowl shaped valley surrounded by these mountains.  Somehow the pilot threaded the plane through a pass and as he brought the plane in for a smooth landing, we could see the mountains towering up above us.

We had a guide / cab driver meet us at the airport.  We were a total of 9 people and had plenty of time to make it to the hotel in Urubamba.  So we took a few hours taking in the sights in Cusco.  The driver showed us some of the highlights of the town and we got very lucky as there was a fiesta going on in the grand plaza that was just awesome.  We also got a close up view of the statue of Christ on the highest point in the city. The only thing that cast a pall on an otherwise lovely day was that a couple of us got mountain sickness.  The classic symptom is headache accompanied by nausea and vomiting.  The problem is that a number of other things can present in the same way, including dehydration compounded by the travel fatigue, Peru belly etc.   This occurred about 2-3 hours after landing in Cusco.  Cocoa Tea is the traditional remedy but is hard to keep down given the above symptoms.  It is clearly a good idea to start taking acetazolamide prior to arriving.  Urubamba is a couple thousand feet below Cusco and descending down to the valley helps to improve the symptoms. 

The arrangements at the hotel are superb.  The rooms are large, there is filtered water, free WiFi and the dinner was superb.  The views from the hotel are stunning and the staff including Edwin the manager are incredibly helpful and cheerful.  Looks like the start of a terrific month!

-Dr. Neil Mehta, CCF Internal Medicine