Day 21 of G-Adventures Inca Heartland Tour (finish)

Day 1 of G-Adventures Inca Trail

We leave La Paz very early. 4:30 am wake up clock. We knock on the wall to Gianni’s room to say good bye. He likes to be awake at 4:30 am. At 5:00 am we are downstairs at our prebooked hotel Las Brisas to airport transport (the hotel charges 2 pax + luggage 104 Bs, equals 15 us$; Elia told us yesterday that a taxi to the airport is not more than 60 Bs.).

The room was small but clean:

The driver wakes us up with “Maria magdalena” by Sandra, followed by Michael Cretu. It seems that our Radio Waves need like 25 years to Bolivia …

Anyway, we are at El Alto Airport at 5:25 am, fill out the Bolivian emmigration forms, check in our luggage (you cannot check through from La Paz – Lima – Cusco, because La Paz is considered a drug trafficking airport internationally, so we have to pick up our luggage in Lima and check it in again.

FLIGHT17: Avianca AV7391 from El Alto International Airport, La Paz (LPB) 07:56 to Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima (LIM) 09:05 – duration 2h05

10.03.2018 10:05 S 12°01.7205′ W 077°06.4003′ altitude: 274 masl @ Lima Airport

The luggage check in Lima is a joke. You could pass quite easily, but luckily the gate through the airport has female Rambo as watchdog, so all international to domestic passengers, which have to recheck there luggage need to leave airport building and reenter on the other side (all doors inbetween are locked. On the last door there is no guard, nothing. Welcome to Peru again.

The Tanta Coffee next to Starbucks at Lima Airport before the departure security gates not.

FLIGHT18: Avianca AV837 from Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima (LIM) 10:50 to A Velasco Astete, Cusco (CUZ) 12:15 – duration 1h25; as they board super slow they get a 1 hr delayed Start slot.

10.03.2018 13:57 S 13°32.3275′ W 071°56.6542′ altitude: 3.357 masl @ Cusco Airport

We arrive at cusco airport again. 2 stamps more in the passport. G Adventures driver is already outside with his minibus.

The inka is still watching over cusco. It is sunny and warm.

10.03.2018 14:33 S 13°31.2268′ W 071°58.9571′ altitude: 3.479 m @ Hotel Prisma; Cusco

We do laundry and go the market afterwards to get juice and nuts and heat pads for christinas shoes.

At 3:30 pm we meet at the hotel and go to reception again. We walk to G Adventures office, the briefing is more or less the same like in the Lares Trek. We rent sleeping bags and air mattresses for 90 soles per person and walk back.

After the briefing we go to Orion Supermarket and buy water and müslibars. Then we go home, get money from ATM, recharge claro card, get express laundry (4 hours, 2 kgs, 6 soles and not really clean), pack our duffle bags (6 kgs max, sleeping bag and matress take 3,5, so only 2,5 kgs for our stuff for 4 nights – Rest comes into the daypack, which we will have to carry for 50 km). Then it starts to rain. We want to go to Uchu for dinner with our 15 % voucher from last time.

We decide to take a taxi, which seems to be impossible. Everybody is taking a taxi. We stand in the rain.

Finally we catch a “taxi”. The guy has definitely never done a driving license, the car is not proper to go on public street, especially at snowfall and the guy doesnot know the adress, as we explain he has no glue how to get there. So our google maps supports the guy, at least it is dry and for 5 soles (1.25 €) I donot care a lot.

So we eat at Uchu

As we have finished it is not raining anymore. We go home to sleep. Tomorrow we will leave at 7:30 am.