[Day 5] Off to Seville

Our last day in Barcelona. We were lucky that our airbnb had a late checkout. We left our luggage and headed into the city for the last time. A lot of the places were closed on Sunday and because of this, a lot of cafes had lines out the door. So if you had a place in mind, make sure to make reservations!

We ended up at a Korean style cafe called Bing Bing Cafe and it was pretty legit. They had several bingsu flavors that are authentic to Korea which was pretty rare. We wanted to try some bingsu but we were here for brunch. And their brunch menu was also pretty good. They had several different bowls, smoothies, pancakes, hamburgers, and more. I got their poke bowl and it wasn’t too bad. If you are looking for something with a kick, I would recommend the Benedict Thai.

After our brunch, it was time for us to head to the airport to fly over to our next location, Seville. The check in line was long but we were able to check in online and only needed to tag our bags and send them off. The check in desk lines were long here so please check in online before coming to the airport. After we checked out bags, we headed through security. Weirdly, the line for the security seemed long but moved really fast.

Once we were inside, we headed to one of the lounges to relax before boarding our flight. There were several lounges but we settled in Canudas VIP Lounge. They had a decent food selection, mostly finger foods and snacks, as well as their drink selection. One thing about their drinks were that they were all bottles and you could not take them with you. It was weird to see glass bottles but also felt fancy.

When you are at the lounge, just check the time of your flight gate frequently. The airport is rather large and it might be at the end of the terminal. We had to run at the end and we were practically the last ones on board. But we made it to Seville safely.

We took an Uber to our airbnb and the driver could not get us to the front of the house. He ended up dropping us off a block away and told us which way to walk. So if you plan on bringing a lot of luggage, ask the airbnb if a cab can drop off at the front of the house.

Once we settled in, we started to look for a place to eat. We were pretty close to all the major attractions and had an array of restaurants to choose from. We didn’t want to go too far so we ended up at place called La Bartola. It was a small bar and we were lucky to have gotten the last seats at the bar. And this place was really good! They had an extensive wine list and a full list of tapas. Again, we wanted to try everything so we ordered one of each. They did have several tapas that also had meal size available. One that we really wish we got the meal size was the pork cheek stew. Carrillada Iberica con Parmentier de Patata. This was so good. We definitely need more. Everything here was good and I would recommend it. It is small so make reservation if you would like to try their pork stew!

With the travel, we wanted to be at our best condition the next day, so we decided to relax at home. We bought some snacks and wine from the local store and headed home. Nice day to relax a bit.

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[Day 6] Vinicunca

We had a 5am pickup so woke up at 4am to get ready. When I woke up, my body was feeling heavy. And when I was moving around in my room, my heart was beating fasting than normal. Is this altitude sickness? So just in case, I took some pills.

I also packed too light. My big mistake. So I had no actual winter clothes. Luckily, one of my companion gave me her padded vest and extra sweat pants. It was nice and warm and I really needed it. It was about 39 degrees in the morning and the van picked up several people. The van was pretty big, about 18 seater? and it got full. It was too early for me and I knocked out. 1 1/2 hr later, we stopped for breakfast. The area where we were for breakfast was higher than cusco so I was starting to feel the pressure a bit. But it still was bearable.

The breakfast was meh. They provided bread, sausage, fruits, soup, and tea. Lots of coca tea. I drank as much as I could since they said it was good for the altitude sickness. After breakfast, we drove for another hour and we arrived at rainbow mountain.

Provided breakfast

And goodness. The pressure was on. Even at the bottom I was dead. After walking like 20 steps, I was breathing hard. I wanted to walk up but I knew I wasn’t going to make it so I asked for a horse. You could pay for one way but round trip was cheaper (in case I need a ride down) and I’m so glad I did. One thing to remember. The horse does not go all the way to the top. There is a stopping point and from there, you have to walk up.

Riding my horse up!

I really wanted to walk up to the top. at least try. So I slowly walked. While walking, there were other tour guides saying that the easiest way to walk with altitude sickness was take 10 steps and take a 10 min break. I didn’t have that kind of time and I wanted to scream LOL But after taking small steps, I made it to the view point. I was at Rainbow Mountain!

The area was beautiful. Green colors with snowy tops and as we got higher, more colors. Red, yellow, green. It was spectacular. The guide said that the weather on this particular day was just perfect and I totally agreed. Pictures don’t do it justice. some of the colors were very vivid. But personally, I was miserable. The alltitute sickness here was hitting me hard.

Right at the view point

I was about 100 meters away from the top when my guide said we have to go back down. So I didn’t get to the top but I was up high enough to get some amazing photos. The weather was just perfect. No filter necessary. I was proud of myself for walking up to the point.

Colors of Vinicunca

I had to walk back down to the drop off area, find my horse person and ride back down. I passed out on the bus back. I was so tired.

After the tour, we got back to cusco. Once at Cusco, I didn’t feel sick any more. I walked around and shopped a bit or a nice pancho and ate Korean food at Sarangche. Not that I like eating Korean food while traveling but my travel companions really wanted it. We ordered some KBBQ pork belly and Kimchi Stew. It was pretty good. The warm soup really made me feel at home and comforted me.

Dinner from Saranche

Once we got back to our accommodation, we had to pack. The next 2 days, we were going to be on the road. When I packed for this trip, I told myself I wouldn’t shop so I packed a smaller suitcase. I brought a 17 inch luggage so I could carry it onboard. But who was I kidding. I needed a bigger luggage!