A Rainy Night in Cusco, Peru

Lord, I believe it's rainin' all over the world

Here is one of the basic rules of turismo peruano:  When the weather is nice and sunny in Lima and the Peruvian Coast, it's cold and wet in the Andes.  And when the temperatures are mild and the sun is shining down on the Incan tourist sites up in Andes, it's gray and gloomy in Lima. The "sunny and mild" weather time of the year in the Andes coincides perfectly with northern hemisphere summer. So for a U.S. tourist who wants to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu, summer will give you the best weather. And the biggest crowds. It gets so crowded that access to Machu Picchu is supposedly limited during peak tourist season. And I am guessing that a big reason that Lima was a bad reputation among Los Turistas Americanos is that they see Lima at its grayest and gloomiest.

So after a day in foggy-in-the-morning, sunny-afternoon Lima, I jetted off to Cusco, the old Incan capital high up in the Andes. Where it's raining. Because it's the rainy season. Why, yes, I am a contrarian. I try to visit nowhere during that place's high season. Which means I am doomed to visit the Andes in the rain. 

I am staying in the Union Hotel. On Calle Union. I'm guessing the name-commonality is not coincidental.

While the lobby looks great, the room is a bit ... rustic. As in "metal room key." As in: no heating or a/c. Not that a/c would be needed way up at 11,500 feet above sea level. But, especially given the dampness from the rain, heat would be nice. So they brought me a space heater and it's working nicely. But, yes, rustic. As in "no flushing any paper down the toilet" rustic. And I mean "any."

I did get some photos of the neighborhood before the rains returned.

The forecast for tomorrow is "not raining," so maybe I'll get some photos around town. Tonight I am conserving energy adjusting the extreme altitude.

Traffic does seem more manageable than Lima.

But soon the rains returned. And the best way to "take it slow" to acclimate to the elevation is to try to go to bed early.