I had my first South American camping experience last weekend and LOVED it. I thought I'd really be roughin' it, but turns out that the campsite in Pisac was part of the “Royal Inca Club”, across the street from the Royal Inca Hotel. I mean, yeah- I was still surrounded by dirt roads and mountains, but I imagined myself digging latrines and fighting off pumas. This was not the case. Me, along with five friends, stayed in a lovely little site, around the corner from the indoor bathrooms. We briefly considered just hauling off into the wilderness, but then we were sold when we saw the pool near our campsite. C'mon, who doesn't love a pool?!
Pisac is only about a 40 minute drive from Cusco, and as most drives in Peru, it is a beautiful one. Pisac itself is beautiful and tranquil. Cusco is no Chicago, but it is a city and it's nice to get away from its hustle and bustle sometimes.
When we arrived, we learned two things:
We could not have a fire and could only cook with a stove, which we did not have.
That we would be camping around a group of Catholic, 12 year old boys on a school trip, so we had to be on our best behavior.
Who knew Peruvian camping would have so many rules?
Turns out, neither of those things were a big deal- we made do with food and as the night went on, made friends with the 12 year olds. My friend Whintey taught them all how to make “S'mores”. They promptly fell in love with her and requested group photos. We all went to bed tired and happy...
...until I woke up and realized SOMETHING was missing. I was all ready to start my day at the pool, but WHERE was my bathing suit? I had left it out to dry overnight. After searching all around the site, and thinking it over and over, we came to the conclusion that my bikini had been STOLEN...most likely by our tricky little neighbors. There was no one else around. And who else besides 12 year-old boys want to steal a stupid old bikini anyway? So, yeah. I am now bikiniless. I'm okay, though. Me and my purple bikini had a lot of good times together, but it was time for us to part ways anyway. I just wish I'd been the one to decide when.
All in all, it was a great weekend. One of the best I've had here. We're thinking of trying to squeeze another trip in before I leave, but that all depends on schedules and of course, the rain. We were SO lucky to have a sunny and dry weekend. Apparently this is the dryest November they've had here in years, and after a very wet summer in Costa Rica, I am NOT complaining. Stay away as long as you can, rain! Oh, wait...it's raining...right now.
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