From mountains to mountains - Cuzco to Lima to Huaraz
Today we left Cuzco for Lima and then on to the mountains around Huaraz. The wakeup call was for 4:30 a.m. to be at the airport 2 hours before our 8 a.m. flight. We felt very sad leaving Cuzco - it is a city that needs much more exploring and has embedded itself in our hearts. It is such a charming city, with such history and beautiful mountains surrounding it. We will surely be back.
TACA airlines once again whisked us away to Lima - this time we got great seats to view the gorgeous Andes as we flew west. Arriving in Lima was an assault on our senses - dirty, foggy, chaotic, and crowded. We hired a taxi to take us to the Movil Tours bus station for our bus to Huaraz. The bus station wasn´t in the best of neighborhoods, and I´m afraid that I can truly say I don´t like Lima. We booked ourselves for the 1:00 bus service to Huaraz. Little did we know what type of bus we would be getting - Amazing!! Double-decker coach bus, complete with leg rests (not foot rests, but actual leg rests), seats that reclined almost fully so that you could sleep, DVD movies played throughout the journey, and a hot lunch served about an hour into it!! 
We had more fun on that bus with all the do-dads and cool things to do - on a bus!!! The views along the way were incredible. We drove up the Pacific coast on the Panamericana, the big freeway that runs all the way down the length of South America. About 4 hours into to the journey, we turned of the freeway for our highway to Huaraz. As you can imagine, going into the mountains, it was full of switchbacks and hairpin turns. I was at the ¨trying not to hurl¨ phase for about 2 hours before getting to Huaraz.
We got into town around 8:00, found a hotel, and made our way to the Cafe Andino to get information on day hikes in the area. Unfortunately, the cafe was open, but the trekking advice people weren´t there. So we enjoyed banana pancakes and eggs and hashbrowns there instead! The cafe is owned by a guy from Minneapolis who has lived with his family for 8 years here in Huaraz. He answered one of the questions I posted on Lonely Planet and happened to catch that I was from Minneapolis. We went to bed hoping we would catch him the next morning for advice.