Plane

On the plane ride from Lima to Cusco is when they had four guys put me into an aisle chair and haul ass up a flight of stairs to get to the plane. It was about a 3 hour plane ride. When they got me off, they had a thing to help bear the weight. .

One of the first things that I noticed was how blue the sky was. We had an hour at the airport, and then we met the rest of the Accessible Travel Peru crew. And again we boarded a passenger van with two portable ramps. But this time we sat behind the driver’s bench, and two of the guys sat right behind us. They held onto our wheelchairs just in case.

Where we stayed

Xima was the name of the hotel. Our rooms were on the first floor. Again my mom and dad had different rooms. My room had a king bed and a TV, but I never watched anything.

So this was unique, the sink was in the corner of the bedroom and the bathroom had a roll in shower. The toilet was right next to the shower; the grab bars were built into the floor right next to the toilet. They were curved at the top so it was harder to use since it was only right at your hip. See picture.

Sacred Water

First we went to Tambomachay. This was where we bought our tickets that we would check at every landmark, so don’t throw them out. The ground was packed gravel until we came to a field with two people with decorated clothes with a baby alpaca. At the end of the road there was a stone wall that was made in the 1400s. There were little water fountains coming out. Then we went back to the hotel.

Where we ate

Next, we had a local tour guide who showed us the main spots in Cusco. We went to the middle of Cusco, and walked around for a little bit. We went to dinner at Andean Grill Restaurant. I got the asparagus cream soup, I hoped the soup would have been better. Someone got the deep fried alpaca, but I personally wouldn’t order it. It's one of those meals that people eat, so you have to try it. They also had some kind of potato,and big white corn. The white corn is one of the things that grows around that area. The white corn was so good and sweet!.

On our walk back to the hotel we saw this lady sitting on the sidewalk with a grill, and it had an open flame. I wish I brought a stick with a marshmallow. Then we got some rest.

Convent

The next day we drove to a convent, Qorikancha Bento so de Santo Domingo. There were a lot of people there so there was a line out front. The first room said no photos, so obviously I took one, but it was just of the ceiling. It had a pretty design, always look up.

We had a guide, but I couldn’t understand him because he talked too fast. There was a gold plate with hieroglyphics on it, They had a few big fields with a lot of grass and stone work.

You could see that the rock floor was covered with wood so it was more accessible. They would have little wooden ramps, then we headed back to the van.

Saqsaywaman

At the next stop, Saqsaywaman, they put one girl in their homemade wheelchair. How do you think that would sound out loud? It sounded like he was saying sexy woman, but there was nothing sexy about it. It was just another spot built there out of stone raised walls. Again there were wild alpacas. He told us a lot of facts about them, but to me they were just big rocks. #sorrynotsorry

Inca Stairs

Then we drove to Moray. This time all three of us got into the special wheelchairs. Here it rained so it was good that I brought a raincoat. We all wore ponchos, and we saw the muddy walkway. It was much smaller so my wheelchair wasn’t able to fit.

They pushed our “wheelchairs” up this hill to a covered spot. Our guide talked more about the land in front of us, what foods the Incas grew. We stayed under it for a while. Then we turned back. While we were driving it stopped raining and the sun came out. The weather was similar to Florida in a way that it would rain and then the sun would come out.When it would rain there it would get significantly cooler than Florida.

Oh Shit

We went to a restaurant with a buffet. They had a lot of outdoor seating. This is when I started to feel like I was going to throw up. We went to the bathroom, but right before I made it, out it came, after I needed a drink of juice so I got orange juice. They rinsed all of their oranges in the tap water, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then we drove back to the hotel, and again went to bed. I told my mom I wasn’t feeling great, so she decided to sleep in the bed with me.

Around 11pm I woke up feeling like I was going to puke. My mom woke up, quickly came over, and helped me sit up on the bed. She gave me the trash bucket to throw up in, but then things got worse - , MUCH WORSE. I said, “Oh no! it's about to come out….” And then it happened!

We put a towel on my wheelchair, and got me over to the toilet, just made it because it happened again and again and again. Finally, I went to bed, and when I woke up I decided to stay home. I missed going to see a really interesting indigenous people's hut where they lived.

On Friday, I woke up still feeling a little sick, but it was going to be a new day, this is how I ended up going to Machu Picchu in a diaper.

Emporer’s Dwellings

First we went to Ollantaytambo, the gateway to Machu Picchu. There were a bunch of stalls selling everything. The ground was not even stone. They had a bunch of rocks on the side. What I thought was so cool is they would have a rope showing where you couldn’t walk. And people listened! No tourons here! They had a bunch of stone ramps, and again there were alpacas free to roam.

Before we left Cusco we stopped at this little family (the grandmother was there cooking, and me and her exchanged smiles before we left) run market to get the famous sweet bread called Pan Chuta. I didn’t see the name, but the market is next to The Cristol Hotel. this is a must when you come to Cusco. After we rode the Machu Picchu Train, to read more about my Machu Picchu trip click here.