Sometimes we know in advance it’s going to be a tough travel day and getting from Ushuaia to Cusco, Peru is going to be one of them.  We fly from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires domestic airport, get the bags, take a van an hour from their domestic to international airport, recheck the bags, find a place in the airport to sleep for a few hours, fly from Buenos Aires at 4:20am to Lima Peru, go through immigration, fly from Lima to Cusco. Phew! We leave the Ushuaia hotel at 4pm and will check in to the Cusco hotel at 12pm IF everything goes as scheduled.

We get to Ushuaia airport to check-in. Kyle asks the LATAM air representative about the bags.  She says that they will be checked all the way through to Cusco since all three flights are on LATAM.  Hmm…Kyle doesn’t think this correct as he can’t see how the bags will get from Buenos Aires domestic to international airport an hour away so he asks her four different ways if she’s totally, absolutely sure.  Finally she says in best English, “sir, your luggage WILL be in Cusco!” 

When we get the tickets Kyle figures out the issue.  The original tickets he booked were from Ushuaia to BA domestic airport but apparently LATAM decided to change the flight to Ushuaia to BA international airport without telling anyone.  It’s actually better for us since we don’t have to deal with the transport between airports.

We arrive in Buenos Aires around 10pm and find a lounge in the terminal of our next flight. Unfortunately we are told that the lounge is full and has a waiting list but that there is another lounge about 15 min walk.  When we get to that lounge, we are told there is a strict 3 hour time limit in the lounge.  So it we check in now, we’ll get kicked out at 1:30am and the flight isn’t until 4:20am.  So we decide to get dinner to kill time and return at midnight.

We settle into our chairs in the lounge and go to sleep. “Leanne please report to the desk.” It’s 3 am and that was the lounge attendant. Over the loudspeaker.  At 3 a.m. Uggg! Leanne can barely move; her back now seized up again after yesterday’s injury moving her bag.  Somehow she slithers out of the armchair and ottoman — her makeshift bed — and slowly approaches the receptionist. She notices a long line of passengers awaiting a space in the lounge.  

It’s 3 am and our 3 hour limit in the longue is up!  “Our safe sleeping space” in Buenos Aires’ Modo International Airport has a three hour limit and they are strict about it.  Clearly.  The desk attendant screeches at Leanne something equivalent to “get the heck out; time is up.”  No leeway. No mercy.  Despite Leanne looking in a pathetic amount of pain. How low do you feel when you get kicked out of anywhere at 3 a.m.? We do notice that the airport doesn’t waste a second of the 24 hour clock as there are flights scheduled throughout the entire night taking off at 1, 2, 3 and 4 am.  That is a first we have seen and it contributes to the overcrowded lounge situation. 

Leanne has the undesirable task now of waking of the six others and she starts with Kyle who is completely groggy and out of it.  He attempts to stand and collapses back into the chair groaning, “I don’t care if they call security, I’m not leaving.” Leanne gets a bottle of water and stands over him threatening to pour it on him if he doesn’t get up, “you’re the boy genius that booked these tickets so you better get the hell up and help with the kids.” Fair point although in reality Kyle had no choice as the Inca Trail hike started Monday and you need two days to adjust to altitude and this was the only option. Kyle struggle up although waking the five kids proves no easier of a task.

We arrive in Lima, Peru to find a super long immigration passport control line.  Not quite as bad as when we originally got to Buenos Aires a few weeks ago but at least 200 people are in front of us.  Given we only have less than 2 hours to make our connecting flight, sweat starts to form on Kyle’s eyebrows.  Kyle estimates the number of people ahead of us, the number of immigration checkpoints, the time per person at the checkpoint, does the mental math and declares, “that’s it.  We’re done. We’re toast.  Stick a fork in us.  There is no way we’re making the connection.” “Keep faith,” whispers Leanne to Kyle.  

We slog through the line at a snail’s pace and by the time we are through, we have only 30 minutes to get to our gate in a different terminal.  Yikes!  We rush out of the international terminal and run to the domestic terminal.  However, we look like the seven stooges because a botched attempt at Spanish leads us upstairs to wrong gates. Tick tick tick. We now have only 20 minutes.  We fly through security and run a flat out sprint through the airport to Gate 13 which is flashing Last Call on the screen.  We scan our tickets and enter the gateway as they shut the door behind us. Mop sweat from brow.  Debacle avoided although Kyle was pretty close on his mental math.

Our flight into Cusco and Kyle says, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the bags don’t show up.” We are the last ones off the plane and after a bathroom stop and ATM stop to get Peruvian money, we head over to baggage claim. By the time we get there, there is no one is there.  No fellow passengers and no baggage on the carouse; only taxi hawkers hounding us. We wait, as we know now to be patient.  After 20 minutes pass and bags from the next flight are now coming out, Kyle declares, “that it, the bags aren’t coming,” and this time he’s right.  

Leanne asks, “are you sure we weren’t supposed to pick up the bags in Lima and go through customs?”  Different airports have differing rules around these transfers. Kyle clearly annoyed responds, “well I asked the attendant in Ushuaia five times if our bags are definitely checked through to Cusco and she started yelling at me that she was positive they were.” Twenty hours of travel, 3 short overnight flights, sleeping for 2-3 hours in an airport and arriving without your bags tends to put you in somewhat of a shitty mood.

Kyle had asked at tourist info booth about taxis and was told there are no authorized taxis and no meters so you just have to pick one and negotiate.  A woman, seeing our gaggle of people and luggage, grabs Kyle and says she has a taxi van that can fit us all for 35 pesos which is consistent with what the info booth attendant said we should be paying. Kyle explains that our luggage is lost but we will use her when we come back. 

Kyle and John exit the building and the taxi hawkers have multiplied forming a sea of drivers screaming, waving signs and grabbing us for a taxi. We have to put our head down and run for the building next door where we were told is the LATAM baggage office.  We enter the building and can’t find the office.  An enterprising taxi driver offers to show us where the office is for a fee.  Kyle is in no mood for this crap and effectively tells him to go to hell.  Undeterred, he decides to show us anyway and sits down to wait for us. 

Low and behold, we WERE supposed to pick our bags up in Lima, clear customs and re-check-in the bags. The LATAM clerk tracks our bags down and as they are very patiently still waiting for us still in Lima.  After a mound of paperwork and the very helpful customer service rep, a photo comes over her cell phone of a family portrait of our bags huddled all together, taking care of one another.  The bags will be taken through customs for us and arrive tonight but we will have to come back to the airport which is about 30 minutes away to pick them up. A sigh of relief. The silver lining is that if we hadn’t made that mistake, all seven of us would have missed a flight getting and rechecking our bags which would have been worse.

 We are finally done and the taxi driver who has been waiting the whole time pounces on us. “Now I take you to hotel,” he says assuming that since he showed Kyle the office, we are obligated to use him.  “Quanto questo?” Kyle asks. “70 pesos,” he responds. That is twice what the other lady offered.  “Another van taxi offered me 35 pesos, so forget it, we’ll use her,” Kyle says and walks off.  The guy chases Kyle down and says, “ok, 35 pesos it is.” After the travel day from hell, we finally arrive at the hotel and check in. 

The historical significance of Cusco displays itself to us as we pass by the main city square.  Beautiful historic Spanish style buildings give the city that aura of being more than just the Inca’s Imperial City.  A new history to explore. Cusco isn’t just an entrance city to Machu Picchu; the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site unto itself. 

The day after tomorrow, our clan will divide up. Kyle, Justin and Corey are doing on the famous 30-mile Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu and the rest of us have booked an Inca Sites Tour that arrives at Machu Picchu by train. Not everyone in the group enjoys hiking and since Leanne hiked the Inca Trail in 1997, she will hang with the non-hardcore-hiking teens.   

The hikers head into town to rent gear and check in with their trekking company.  It is standard practice to get to Cusco 48 hours before departing to adjust to the 11,500 foot elevation.  After our oxygen levels were so low in Tibet, we don’t want to take any chances with the altitude. 

The hikers walk into town which is down a steep road and find Alpaca Expeditions.  The check in goes relatively smoothly although we find out that they expect Kyle to share a tent with the forth guy that will be in our group. Kyle had asked about this beforehand and was told the boys would share a tent and he would get a single tent. He doesn’t sleep well and doesn’t want an awkward situation when he’s up in the middle of the night. The guy says he check on that and get back to him.  We have our official briefing the next day at 6:30pm.  We then buy waterproof rain pants, grab lunch and then head back to the hotel.

Kyle read up about the Inca Trail hike during our travel day and is very nervous about it.  Altitude, hills, stairs, rain, mud. Walking up the hill to the hotel does absolutely nothing to allay his fears as Kyle is huffing, puffing, wheezing and having to stop and rest every block.  And this was only 400 meters not 30 miles. Upon arrival at the hotel, Kyle says to Leanne, “I think I’m in trouble with this damn hike.”

The luggage arrives as promised and tired but with no choice in the matter, Kyle, Corey and Justin head back to the airport.  We make it back with the luggage and fall into bed exhausted.