No Gracias

That´s probably the most common phrase we use each day. No gracias, we don´t wish to visit your restaurant, or your restaurant or your restaurant, as we walk through the arcade of any town´s main square. No gracias, we don´t need a taxi, a hostel, alpacan wool mittens, jewelry, or postcards. No gracias.

But really no gracias to intestinal infections. Tyler is the first to succumb, with a doctor´s house visit, no less. After a few days of (sorry to any faint of heart) diarrhea and stomach cramps, we decided enough was enough and got some medical advice. Though we had gotten a prescription for Cipro (and antibiotic for traveller´s diarrhea problems) prior to leaving, we realized that we weren´t sure when to go from Pepto and some Immodium to the hardcore stuff. Turns out that was today. Fortunately, Tyler also got another prescription for some of the good gut bacteria. Hopefully everythign will even out as we´ve now reached Cusco, and I´m really excited for Tyler to feel better so we can enjoy this fascinating historic city.

Intestinal disorders notwithstanding, we continue to enjoy Peru. We easily could have spent our entire 30 days here alone. We have been well taken care of by the family with the hostal in Arequipa and now Cusco. In Arequipa, the sister running the office there even went so far as to go by taxi with us to the bus station, walk through the potentially confusing exit process, and make sure we made it onto our bus with no problems. And refused a tip! Then another family member met us after a 10 hour bumpy night bus ride to Cusco at 6AM and let us sleep in dormatory bunks until our room was unoccupied and cleaned, rather than make us wander around, zombie-like in the cold Cusco morning. Tyler´s illness aside, we seem to be having a fair amount of good travellers luck.

Hopefully more soon on our explorations of Incan ruins and such. I´m sure Tyler will be back to regale you with stories in good health and good humor in no time at all!