Day 50 & 51 – 10/11th January. Cuzco and Goodbye to Lidy.

One of the two cathedrals located in the busy main plaza.


Cuzco Rest Days. 0 kms.

Total Distance So Far: 12,416 kms (10,646 kms by Land, 1,770 kms by Sea)

Back in Cuzco we wandered around the cobbled streets of the historical centre and marveled at the lovely mix of Inca and Spanish Colonial architecture. It really is a very pretty city. Although they have a habit of changing their one-way system DAILY which can obviously be extremely confusing to the uneducated.

We spent a few hours people-watching in one of the little cafes over-looking the main square. It’s always a good way to get the measure of the place and the people, read, and a good way to update your travel diary. I am also not one for really wandering about inside churches and museums. Lidy finished off her last travel diary entries and we went back to the hotel to pack her things.

THIS IS WHEN ALL THE FUN AND GAMES STARTED.

Arriving at Cuzco about, Lidy was two hours before her flight. At check in we were informed her flight would be 2 hour late. Her flight was from Cuzo to Lima a short one hour hop. Her take off was 6pm and her connecting Iberia flight at Lime was 20:30. We informed the check-in staff that if she took off at 20:00 she would miss her connecting flight. They were sorry but they were Lan Peru and could not help with Lidy’s onward Iberia flight. I called American Express who booked the her Bangkok to Usuahia, the Cuzco to Bangkok return. Amex then informed me they had booked a series of unconnected local tickets and the knock-on effects of this soon became clear. They said they would have to speak to Iberia to see if they would move Lidy’s flight. Iberia would not be in until the next day as it was 10pm in the UK! I needed to leave Cuzco the next Tuesday, and Amex informed us that the next evenings flight was full anyway. There was space on Wednesday’s but Lidy would need to upgrade her ticket class which was a discounted ‘N-Class’ fare, and the cost to change Lidy’s return leg would be £3,480 plus taxes!. I said to Amex there conditions allowed changed at £20 a time. They said that is true but only to aircraft where other ‘N-class’ fares were allowed and the next N-class fare from Lima was on the 18th! I pointed out to Amex that no mention of a severely restricted N-class fair was mentioned, nor was there there mention if one leg was delayed the rest of the onward legs would be put in jeopardy. Amex agreed with me, thankfully, and said they would speak to Iberia and find a solution. In the meantime they confirmed Lidy did not need a VISA for Bolivia so she would continue until La Paz and fly out from there all being well.

It was obviously great to have Lidy, but I knew 95% of the roads in Bolivia were track, it was rainy season, and we were going to be over 4,000 meters throughout the whole time crossing over the Altiplano, so I was a bit concerned. Lidy understandably did not want to be left in Cuzco without a solution. I had given her one rucksack of gear, plus she had her own rucksack and another bag with all her riding gear, which meant the bike was going to be 100 kgs lighter. My only concern was how slowly we might have to go, but if the days were longer it is no great shakes.




The town sits in a natural bowl. It is extending with simple mud-brick houses rising way up the steep slopes of the mountains on all sides.



It looks like this family found it all too much!




A couple of shots showing the hilly narrow roads of Cuzco