Hostels and hills

We are currently stationed in Cusco setting up all our adventuring to come for the next few days. We got back super late from Aguas Calientes and arrived at our hostel, Loki. It was...interesting. This hostel is notorious for being a party hostel and it definitely lived up to the reputation. Our first night was in a dorm room full of drunk kids coming in and out all night being all kinds of ridiculous. It would have been super annoying if it wasn't so entertaining! The second night was better in a private room...we could enjoy the awesome amenities and come back to a room free of drunken debauchery. I'm learning as I grow older that I am becoming way more picky about my accommodations...especially when it is winter and everything you touch is ice cold. That has been my biggest obstacle so far...I feel like I can never get warm here! That and the fact that nowhere has toilet paper. Every situation is a BYOTP kind of party. Who knew?

We are now in a cool little hostel in the artsy district of Cusco where we have a four bed room to ourselves. Cable TV too! Although only HBO is in English :) We have watched Con-Air one too many times. I really like staying in the more local areas, though. This hostel has only one staff member that speaks English and is near a bunch of fun little alley shops and restaurants. My Spanish is improving/coming back to me out of necessity, which is neat. The hostel Loki was like another world...one full of European 20 year olds who never leave the hostel and start drinking at 8am...haha. We spent a good chunk of last night watching a heinously drunk kid wander around the hostel, bouncing off people and furniture with dry heaves for about an hour...so yeeeeeeah. Our views from everywhere have been pretty neat...just mountains and Peruvian rooftops made of red clay tiles with laundry hung out to dry. I will miss the views you get here once we are back in the states for sure.

I have finally invested in some shoes so I don't slide all over the roads. Walking these mean streets is tough enough with all the vertical climbs, I don't need to add in the risk of breaking an ankle! I know that is a boring thing to put in a blog post, but I was pretty proud of myself for using my Spanish and making enough sense to actually get the right size AND buy a pair of shoes! I may sound like I am 5 years old when I speak, but people get what I am saying so it works. *pats own back*  Our two recent hostels are basically at the top of Cusco, which is built up the sides of mountains. I have never been out of breath as much as I am here! Just getting to your building takes more energy than a crossfit session. My legs will be made of STEEL by the end of this. All the exercise is good though since every meal includes cheese, bread, potatoes, rice, bread, potatoes, fried everything, did I mention bread? and potatoes? And yet I still had to invest in a belt to keep my pants on, if that tells you anything.

Our next adventure is going to hopefully include a week of Spanish school in the Sacred Valley, a trek through Colca Canyon to see some condors and be in a warm climate (finally!!!), and a visit to Lake Titicaca to do a "stay-over" with a family and see all the sites. It will take some crazy planning, but hopefully it will all come together soon! For now we will just relax, find cool restaurants, and do whatever touristy stuff is left in the city. Just walking the streets is pretty neat and can take a full day.

Again, crap internet connection so pictures may need to wait. Time for a little more HBO and warming up under the covers before heading out for comida. Thanks for reading :)