machu picchu – day1
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11,000 feet

At the Lima airport we met our first VBT-person and he got us from the international terminal to the domestic one to check-in. The airport is extremely busy and having someone direct us was great. We also met the people that we will be traveling with.

At the Cusco airport, the guides took over and all we had to do was get in a small bus for the trip to the hotel. The pic is the courtyard in front of our room.

Cusco is 11,200 feet above sea-level and this is where everyone talks about altitude sickness. So far, I’ve had no reaction to the altitude. Tomorrow, we are descend into the Sacred Valley. Cusco is the highest point we will be at.

The VBT organizers, left today unplanned to give the group a chance to acclimate to both the altitude, weather and to give people traveling on their own time to get to Cusco.

We are in that space between the end of fall and the beginning of winter. So the weather is variable. We went out walking and I’m dressed in long-sleeves and layers. It never occurred to me to put on sun-screen and I can now feel that pre-sunburn tingle on my ears and face.