BootsnAll Travel Network



Any room at the Inn?

The minibus finally turned up to drop off most of the Puno to Cusco passengers. We all had to haul our luggage onto the bus but felt reassured that we´d be dropped off at the door to our hotel. As the bus set off, we realised that it was unlikely that the driver had passed his test, or at least driven a vehicle like this before. His gear changes were tortuous but it felt good to finally be here, as we crunched our way through Cusco!

Eug managed to follow our journey on the city map from one of our guide books. He reassured me that we were nearly at our hotel and sure enough, the bus stopped and pointed up the hill to us, saying that our hotel was up there and the bus could take us no further. Typical! After being sat on our backsides all day, we grabbed the luggage and puffed our way up the Calle de Saphi. As we neared the hotel, it started to rain. Why does this always happen to us?

We finally heaved our way into the Hostal Cahuide de Saphi. Allegedly 3 stars. Hhmmm. The place had that slightly basic feel, which you don´t really want after a day sweating on a bus. Nevertheless, we signed in and dragged ourselves and our luggage up another flight of steps to our room. “Carpeted” walls always worry me – especially when they are brown coloured. Nowhere to store our stuff in the room, like a wardrobe perhaps. Two small and thin towels. One glass. The bathroom was quite nice though. Oh yes, no bathmat! After trying to convince each other that this place would be OK, we decided it wasn´t. We got out our Rough Guides and Lonely Planet and found the pages for Cusco. Finding somewhere else to stay was not going to be easy – it´s New Years Eve tomorrow! By this time, it was also teaming with rain outside. We dusted off our “kagools” from the Isla del Sol and prepared to hit the roads of Cusco.

Every place we went into was full for the next couple of days but the staff were always very helpful, which we were grateful for. Some places could only do one night – still not good enough. We weren´t going to give up. Finally, the Royal Inka 1 came up trumps. If we wanted to stay there tonight we could! We even had a choice of rooms. Turn up in the morning as early as you like – we´ll be ready for you. Hallelujah!

To celebrate, we continued in the rain to Rosie O Grady´s (yes, very Peruvian!) for a beer and a top steak.

Checking out of the Hostal Cahuide de Saphi the next day was no problem. They didn´t even ask why we weren´t staying for our full booking – which to us just showed how bothered they were! After a short cab ride to the Royal Inka 1, we were settled into an even better room than that promised to us the night before! Right, let´s see Cusco!



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One Response to “Any room at the Inn?”

  1. Jason Says:

    Well i’ve just been reading a few of your adventures and whilst it brings back many memories, I’m pleased you chose a bit of travelling (even if i’m a little jealous).

    The whole Inca trail etc sounds great and you’ll have to fill me in when you get back. I think it should coincide with a Trip to our new pad in Norwich!

    All the best and looking forward to the next instalment.

    Keep dry

    Jason & Jodie xxx