Bellingham.Seattle.1 Night in LA. 1 Night in Lima. CUZCO!

Yes, my travel itinerary went from a long day of travel to 3 days and 2 nights worth of long travel! Although this was initially upsetting, I knew that everything was out of my power so I just laughed, made the most of it, and met plenty of interesting people! There was the Jewish graduate from law school who bonded with me over travels, the pre-school teacher from Boston who I had dinner with, two young (and dashing) Australian surfers, an older couple from Spokane, a London couple on their honeymoon in South America, a flamboyant Peruvian man living in LA, and the Orange County couple who I actually ran into in Cuzco! I find that travelling on my own makes it far easier to meet people, I rarely found myself lonely.

And when it comes to flying, I completely lucked out Alaska Airline miles and flew first class! This was my first time experiencing the luxury of full reclining seats, three-course meals, and puffy blankets on a flight. I felt like royalty, thanks Mom!

And now that I am in Cuzco, I am so happy! Seeing my friends (Zoe, Kelly and Kristen) was fantastic. Even though I have hardly been here a day (most of yesterday was dedicated to resting to avoid altitude sickness...) I can tell that I am already captivated by the city. The Andes are gorgeous, along with many of its inhabitants. The paralells to Spain are more obvious than I had imagned, sometimes I think that I am there. The food is cheap and delicious (my lunch from the market consisted of an avocado, bananas and a loaf of bread for 33 cents American). And the stray dogs are happy and roam around in groups.

Well, Zoe just came to retrieve me! I had a late start to the morning thanks to being exhausted last night (taking sleeping pills, using an eye mask and ear plugs helps too), so now I am about to Explore Cuzco!

Tchua!