Peru - Cusco (also spelled Cuzco)

The room rate for our hostel in Lima, included breakfast; it was a simple breakfast with bread and coffee/tea but was served in a set of unique dishes. I thought to buy a few of this type of dishes at our last stop at a market, however, I missed.

When we arrived in Cusco after checking in at our hostel, the first thing to do was to buy the train ticket to Aguas Calientes. Ah…the train station is closed on Christmas day. So, how?

December is the rainy season. The business of the night market sellers in Cusco depends on the weather!

Many tourists stay in Cusco; the reason might be it is a big city. And for those tourists who come from long distance, they can stop here before going on to Machu Picchu to adjust to the climate in Cusco, with altitude around 3300m, and then continue the journey.

We heard that a local coca tea or coca candy will help reduce high altitude sickness, so we ordered a cup of coca while having dinner. However, it did not seem very effective to Joe and me!

My stomach did not feel well, but I felt like I could not vomit. I tried to sleep, but a headache disturbed me the whole night and I couldn’t sleep well. However, when I stood up from bed in the morning, my headache would go away slowly. But I still couldn’t walk fast, as I felt the lack of oxygen. Steve said maybe he has larger lungs - he didn’t feel the sickness.

We had lunch on the portico outside a restaurant, and several sellers bringing their stuff approached our table. One girl came to me but I didn’t want anything. She didn’t get upset, but smiled and spoke English to me, “Where are you from? China?” I shook my head. “Japan?” I shook my head. “Korea?” I shook my head. “USA?” I shook my head and then said, “Malaysia.” She blanked for a second, looking like she didn’t hear Malaysia before. She tried to say something to me again, I felt sorry I didn’t understand what she wanted to say…. However, I was amazed her first guess was China, it was close. That’s right; my late parents were born in China! But, my nationality is Malaysian.

在Lima住的小旅店价格包含早餐，简单的只是面包及咖啡或茶，盘具却很特色。我想在最后停留的地区买一些这类盘具，但失算了。

抵达Cusco，check in旅店后，最先要做的事是买明天到Aguas Calientes的火车票。啊…没想到售票站圣诞节没营业！那该怎办？

12月是雨季，Cusco的夜市卖者就要看天的脸色行事！

Cusco 城市比较多旅客停留，原因可能是城市比较大，从远途来，在未到马丘比丘前，先停住海拔约3300米的Cusco，调适身体才继续旅途。

据说当地的一种coca tea叶泡茶或糖果可减轻高原反应，我们在晚餐时，特地点了一杯coca tea，但却对我和Joe没效应！

我感到胸口不舒服，又不是要呕吐，躺在床上试图睡觉，但整晚的头痛干扰得很。早晨站起来，头痛感反而渐渐退去，但还是不能快步，会气喘有如吸气不足。Steve说可能他的肺比较大，他没感觉不适。

我们在一餐馆走廊用午餐，有不少兜卖东西来到我们的桌位，有一小女孩做不成我的生意，没有不高兴，反而微笑用英语问我: 你从那里来？中国？我摇头。日本？我摇头。韩国？我摇头。美国？我摇头然后说: 马来西亞。她怔了一会，仿佛从没听过马来西亞。她尝试再对我交谈，可惜我不明白她想告诉我什么… 我惊呀她的第一猜测是中国，很接近，我的先父母是出生于中国，没错！但我的国籍是马来西亞。