I am currently in Cusco, Peru, altitude 3,500 meters, or 11,500 feet. I have the worst case of altitude sickness imaginable: weakness, exhaustion, shortness of breath, constant yawning, no appetite, nausea, vomiting. I have not been able to do anything for two whole days, except try to sleep in between the yawns. In order to combat this, the locals drink a tea made from boiled coca leaves, which works for about an hour or two, and then wears off. Today, Wednesday, I am finally feeling better. I even ate breakfast. So I´ll be joining a guided tour of the town, instead of trying to do it on my own. I finally understand the great usefulness of the guided tour. In a beautiful city like Cusco, which is incredibly hilly and exhausting because of the altitude, a guided tour is a great bonus.So this post is actually supposed to be about Lima, Peru; and San Jose, Costa Rica. I´ll write about Cusco once I´ve actually done something. Both Lima and San Jose have a reputation for crime and seediness, probably well deserved, but from what I can tell it´s no more crime ridden or seedy than New York in the 1980´s. I am beginning to realise that the tourism industry is geared towards people who don´t travel to cities much, and are more likely to get hurt. As for me, it´s the part about being alone in the middle of nowhere that scares me. No, that´s not true either. Being stuck in a suburb without a car? Sounds pretty scary...
So Lima and San Jose have that same grittiness you see in Hong Kong or New York, but like all cities they both have the advantage of lots of people, and cultural monuments. San Jose less so because it was built in the 1850´s, and for some reason all of the national museums are shut, but Lima, started in the 1550´s, has some incredible 400 year old colonial baroque buildings, and nifty public squares. Only trouble was, while I was there the Asia Pacific Economic Summit was taking place, so the Plaza Mayor, usually the hub of Lima liveliness, was completely locked down for the two days I was there. Its total emptiness says a lot about democracy doesn´t it?
1 comment:
Bob
Got your postcard from Jogja(?), Indonesia . It was amazing hearing from you. I must admit that while I have thought of you and your around the world trek I had become too involved with trying to survive day to day life to look up your blog address! Today it is a relatively quiet day before Thanksgiving and only a handful of people at work so I have finally found your site. Now I will keep better track!
Things are quite hectic here but of course there is nothing that is anywhere as interesting as the world you must be seeing. I have read a bit of your reporting but cannot take a lot of time here at work, there is always so much to do! Since I have become Director of the Residential Group it is a bit more "scary" since I am not just responsible for my work- which I am usually confident about- but the work of my group. David Beale is gone (asked to leave). We have one new PM in my group and another starting Dec 10 (Gwen the first new PM replaced me and the second replaces David). Weather here was beautiful untill it got rainy and suddenly cold. I spent 5 days in Las Vegas and loved it! My wife made sure that we explored every hotel on the strip! The good thing is that I am not a big gambler so that we did not lose a lot of money. We did buy a small time share in a nearby resort, a one week stay anytime during the year in a one bedroom apt. The resort is 5 min from the strip. Las Vegas still seems to be booming! We also visited the Grand Canyon and it brought tears to our eyes it is so breathtaking. One day I want to hike down on the trails (probably would have to do it without my wife). The donkey rides on those narrow trails are just too scary.
Be well and enjoy all you see.
Regards
Gabe
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