Ike and I have been in Cusco for just over a week now and we are slowly becoming acclimated to the high altitude. Cusco is located in southern Perú, high in the Andes, with over a half million people living in the city and the surrounding "metropolitan" area. Our apartment is located in the "neighborhood" of Larapa, which is located to the east of the downtown center of Cusco. Larapa is actually on the side of a mountain and our apartment is closer to the bottom of the mountain - maybe a third of the way up. Other families on our team are further up - between a 10-15 minute walk. I'm not sure yet exactly how far Larapa is from downtown Cusco - maybe 5 miles? Since we don't have a vehicle yet, we have used taxis and "combis" to get around. (Well, in addition to our feet, that is :) The combis are the Peruvian version of a bus system and are the main mode of transportation for most Peruvians. Most of the combis are similar to vans and microbuses and many times they can be quite crowded. They all go different places, though, so we have to make sure that we get on the right one. We usually take Servicio Rapído because it comes right by our apartment (yay!) and goes all the way into downtown Cusco. And the part that Ike really likes is that it only costs 60 centimos to ride - that's the equivalent of about 20 cents.
We are getting settled into our apartment, but it is a VERY slow process. We now have a stove and refrigerator, a sofa, a table, and a bed! Poco a poco (little by little)!
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This picture is taken from the bottom of our hill, looking up. I'm not sure that it looks as steep as it really is. Or maybe it just seems steeper when you're walking uphill at 11,000 feet. |
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| Our "Communication Center". Trunks are so multi-functional. Every household should have at least one! |
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| This is one of the combis that we ride. And let me just say that there is NO maximum capacity! When all the seats are taken, and more people want to get on, they stand. You can feel a bit like a sardine in a can :) |
