Cusco Day 6

Ok, so I know this has been a bit late in coming, but sometimes it´s hard to get motivated to go inside some creepy little internet stall when it´s gorgeous outside and there´s so much stuff to do. So I apologize, but right now there´s a nasty rainstorm so luckily I´m holing up in a cafe for a while. :)

So I got here on Thursday, and because I hardly got any sleep and was tired and grumpy, that first day was kinda rough. After paying way more than necessary for that first hostel, I switched places on Friday morning, to a hostel close to downtown called La Maison de la Jeunesse. Until yesterday, I was staying there alone in a 3 person room for 20 soles a night, so approximately $7. I managed to get my phone set up (sort of) after about amillion hours of broken spanish in the Claro office, so for 20 soles i now have a month of unlimited local service, 100 text messages. Unfortunately, the rates for international calling are pretty crappy, and so far receiving calls has been difficult too, so it looks like it´s going to be calling stations for the most part, but that´s still relatively cheap. But if anyone is interested in giving it a try, the number is 0051 84 931 6398. No guarantees, but text messages seem to be working mostly okay, so feel free to give me a try!!

On Friday I went and bought a boleto turistico unificado, which lets you into most of the city museums and historical sites, plus all of the archaeological sites in and around Cusco and the Sacred Valley. So Friday and Saturday I did a bunch of exploring around the city, went to so many museums and art galleries and churches, etc. that I can´t even remember them all. Wherever you´re allowed to take pictures, I started taking pictures of the name of the place just so I can remember what everything is. Probably my favourite was Qoricancha, what used to be the central temple of the Incas, for it was located in the exact centre of their empire. When the Spanish came, they dismantled some of the rooms (Temple of the Sun, parts of Temple of the moon, etc) and built up around the original walls, putting in all sorts of religious works of art and colonial architecture. The way that you could see the conflict and yet the integration between the two cultures was pretty neat, plus it was just some beautiful buildings and gardens. And actually, my hostel is almost right across the street from it, so when you see the pictures looking out over the gardens area, my hostel is on the left on the other side of the street.

On Thursday night, I had met a few people who were also travelling, and the one guy Joseph was from Brazil (speaks English) and has done a crapload of South American travelling already, and knew a bunch of the locals in Cusco. So over the weekend it was neat to be able to get shown around a bit by some people who know the non touristy places. Friday night I went out, which was really fun, and there are so many clubs all over the place that you can barely walk down the street after 9 without getting (sometimes literally) dragged into someplace with the promise of free drinks or food. Saturday night there was some sort of religious festival going on, although no one i asked seemed to actually know what it was all about. There were parades and firecrackers all day, bands meandering around, etc. and then after dark in front of the Cathedral in the Plaza DArmas, there was like 20 of these rickety structures made of (bamboo?) that were lit on fire one after the other. There were fireworks built into them so that they made really cool explosions. Unfortunately, i didn´t have my camera on me so no pictures, but it was pretty wild. And even though there were pieces of random fireworks shooting off into the crowd, landing on old ladies´heads, kids running amock through the sparks getting lit on fire, I was the only one who seemed to be the least bit concerned by any of it. Everyone else just thought it was hilarious, and completely normal. After the show, we went to this really cool mediterranean themed bar in San Blas area, where there was a live band playing everything from andean music to van morrison. Pretty funny actually. The main singer was indigenous of some sort, and all the guys apparently think that this makes him look like Milhouse off the Simpsons. Not really sure about that one, but i couldn´t convince them otherwise.

And then Sunday morning, we went to this huge market in Pisac, a town like 45 minutes away by bus. My ears were really sore going there, and I don´t know if it was because we had to stand on the combi, or all the twists and turns, thinner air, etc. but my fingers went tingly for like 3 or 4 hours while we were there. But this market was HUGE. Tons of Quechua people selling handicrafts, food, clothes, etc. Joseph tried to convince me to drink some chicha (fruity alcoholic beverage scooped out of a barrel into a dirty beer mug) off the street for like 20 cents, but i declined to much teasing about being an overcautious tourist, etc. 15 minutes later: sick as a dog. I tried not to laugh too hard. ok not really.

Instead, I paid the big bucks (still like 5 dollars) to go to a more upscale touristy cafe place and tried some alpaca which had this amazing cranberryish sauce on it, and was actually delicious. The first time since arriving that I was actually able to eat more than a few bites of anything. Oh and sidenote, i don´t know if it´s because everything else is so much worse in comparison, but lately one of the only things i am enticed to eat is breakfast, including scrambled eggs. WEIRD. But aside from the lack of appetite, no GI problems to report so far. Let´s hope it stays that way, but i do have a stash of pepto and cipro just in case.

Then yesterday, I hiked up the hill at the edge of the city to go to Sacsayhuaman, Qénqo (inca and pre'inca ruins overlooking the city) and the Cristo Blanco. There was a Peruvian couple that stopped me on the way up and insisted that i go with them and that they´d show me around. So for about 3 hours, my spanish held up not too badly, much to my surprise, although i dont´think i really got the depth of explanation re: the history of the sites, but oh well.

And then today, I´m trying to do some of the wrapup stuff before i leave for the inca trail trek tomorrow morning (at a disgusting hour of 5:30 am), so i´m getting my laundry done, paid for the trek, have to go again later to meet my porter (well actually a third of a porter), I´m also trying to register for some spanish classes to start next Monday morning, so i think as soon as these pictures finish downloading (which is taking FOREVER i might add) I´m going to head over there and get that taken care of. I think though that when i get back on Sunday from Aguas Caliente, I´ll probably only stay that one night at the same hostel, and then transfer to someplace with more people around, and closer to the school that i pick.

Other impressions of cusco so far: cab drivers are crazy- no actual slowing down for people to cross the road or anything, but lots of honking. Usually for no apparent reason. Dogs run EVERYWHERE all the time. And not just dogs, but llamas, goats, and last night I was walking around waiting until i got hungry before finding somehwere to eat, and 3 donkeys came right up to me expectantly. No owner visible or anything. I didn´t really know if i was supposed to feed it or what. Eventually they got disgusted with me and wandered away, but still. And finally, I think I´m going to take a hint from the local Quechua women here, who walk around the streets offering tourists the chance to take photographs of them for a sole. Because I get asked pretty much 10-15 times a day or more if people can take their picture with me. Me with them. And their friends. In front of the fountain. On the bench. Showing a Canada flag. etc etc etc. I don´t even need a talent or anything to busk with, i´m pretty sure i could pay for this whole trip just in photographing fees.

ps. how hilarious is it that right now i´m listening to wonderwall on the radio in this cafe, and all the other tourists and i are singing along??

The pictures I´m posting to Snapfish, (link on the top right of this page), and i think it´s set up so that you should be able to make an id for yourself, and then view my group room, which is called South America 07-08. But if that doesn´t work, just go to snapfish.com and log in under my name, sargustin@hotmail.com, password : smarties and you should be able to find it that way. And Mom, if you could let me know if they´re all up there, and maybe download them to cd or something so that i can start deleting off my camera when necessary? won´t be for a while yet, but just in case.

Anyway, sorry for the delay but hopefully the long entry makes up for it somewhat. I´m sure i´ll have lots more to report early next week once i get back from macchu picchu, so until then, I hope you all have a great week, and Happy Halloween!!

Love,
Sarah

Here in Cusco!!

This is just a quick note to let you all know that I'm here in Cusco safe and sound- a little overwhelmed, but good. The plane rides were pretty effortless, no baggage problems or anything luckily, although there wasn't a lot of sleep to be had. So I got here early this morning and went to some hostal that I think I will change tomorrow, but this morning it was good enough for a few hours nap before doing a bit of exploring and finding my way around. It's really cold anywhere in the shade, but the sun is nice and bright. Feeling a little bit lightheaded when walking around the crazy steep streets, but so far no major complaints. Right now I'm at the South American Explorers clubhouse, which is really nice with lots of free stuff and advice, guidebooks to look at, etc. so i think i'll be spending quite a bit of time here. Thanks again for all your well wishes, and I'll try to keep updating you as I go along but as of yet i haven't even begun to think about how to upload pictures or anything. Right now I'm pretty much headed out to find an atm and hopefully get a sim card worked out for my phone. Love you all and miss you already- wish you could be here too!!