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Published: October 9th 2011
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A month ago, in the early hours, our bus crawled in to Cusco. This was very pleasing as it was where we wanted to go. The bus was amazing and certainly the poshest we had been on. At the bus station in Arequipa there was a departure lounge after checking in and a sophisticated system for getting baggage on board. In fact your correspondent was reminded of an airport, although there were no planes or air traffic control towers or cushions available in case of a crash.
The only problem was a huge sign with big letters stating in no uncertain terms that alcohol was not allowed to be consumed on the bus. Dear readers, your correspondent had just bought such type of drink and decided on the only course of action available – I threw myself on the ground (not carpeted so very hard) and howled like a new born calf who has just learnt the meaning of the word veal. I screamed like a young deer who has just watched Bambi’s mother being shot. All to no avail as I was not allowed to take my two cans of beer on board, so Neil and I drank them
without further fuss.
We were in Cusco for two main reasons. Firstly, to do more voluntary work at a school and secondly, to use Cusco as a base for the Inca trail to Machu Picchu (I have seen many spellings of the place recently so have made my own up), both of which will receive their own blog soon. This blog will deal with exciting items such as a 12 sided stone. I kid ye not, they are proud of this stone.
Before that a few general words about Cusco. It is without doubt a lovely looking place with a great square at the centre (Plaza de Armas) with two massive churches one of which is even deemed to be a cathedral. This is the one for real Christians and the other for natives who were converted by the Spanish to Christianity. Obviously real Christians couldn’t sit next to recently converted ones so they built a separate church for such people.
There are great views from this plaza and there are several smaller plazas all within a few minutes walk, each with it’s own church. The architecture is superb and there is always something to see around
each corner. So, why is your correspondent disappointed with the city? Why will he not rush back here?
Let me tell you. Cusco ( because of Machu Picchu being close by) is the most touristy city that we have visited in our 6 months of travelling – yes, dear readers, 6 whole months in this wonderful continent – and it is impossible to walk for more than a few yards without someone trying to sell you paintings , jewellery, clothing, tours (there are 800 tour operators here), massages ( W wouldn’t let me ) or trying to persuade you to go to their restaurant or bar or – the best of all – have your photograph taken with a llama or lamb. I mean, who in any form of sanity is going to pay to have their photograph taken with a flea ridden, rancid, beast of burden ???? Let me tell you who – practically every tourist in the city. We have seen tourists stop having a meal to go out of the restaurant to have their photograph taken.
The local ladies who look after the llamas are not to be treated lightly. If one takes a photograph
of a street scene and she is in it with her llama, she ( and the llama) will bear down on you with the grace of a small and angry Sherman tank demanding that you pay for photographing her and smelly !!! The equivalent would be having your picture taken with a sheep in the UK.
It is constant. It is impossible to take a stroll in the centre of town (and environs) without being constantly accosted by vendors of one sort or other. The best thing to do is to have a sign round your neck begging for money – then the vendors will stay away from you.
Rant over.
In fact, W has asked for a special mention to Jack’s café. A fine establishment serving great pancakes and syrup, but more importantly El Gordo – a huge fried breakfast that means the eater does not have to eat for three days. W ate again after three hours. See picture for full details.
Our apartment is about 25 minutes walk from the centre. We have the attic room with a great view. We have had three flatmates :
Caroline – a rather quiet and
shy Belgian girl who was here for two weeks. Sometimes she was not quite as quiet as we thought as she would go out and drink a few litres of Cuba Libres ( rum and coke) and eventually come back to the apartment at 0530hrs the next day.
Mary – a not shy and not quiet girl from Ulster. Your correspondent thought he could swear, but is a mere amateur compared to Mary. She can even swear at swearwords. She worked at the same school as us (next blog for info) in between spending most of her time in Paddy’s Bar. Lovely girl though.
A guy from Brazil whose name I do not know but begins with L – strangest guy ever met. His girlfriend was here for a night then she flew back to Brazil. He had never been left on his own before and she had helped before leaving by painting an L on his food in the fridge with nail varnish !!! Am sure she sewed his name on to his clothes as well. First night alone, Wendy heard him crying and sobbing for most of the night and, the next day, told the volunteers
co-ordinator . We were told to keep an eye on him and the next night more sobbing and crying. Mary knocked on his door only to be answered by a happy and smiling chap – he had been watching funny movies and laughing out loud !!!!
Apart from going to museums and churches, we hired a car and spent a day journeying through the Sacred Valley. The scenery stunning and beautiful, although the towns with Inca ruins were more tourist traps. As driver, your correspondent took it on himself to find places off the beaten track. Sadly, this meant literally going off the beaten track and down paths that even donkeys would turn up their noses at. It is strange how much more one explores when one has a hire car!!! There are a few 20000ft mountains in the valley, but I was not allowed to drive up them – something trivial like there not being a road.
So, there we have Cusco. One question bothers your correspondent though – why do you never see donkeys and llamas in the same fields ? Answers on a postcard to the usual address please.
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Taffy
non-member comment
I think the beer has got the better of you most of the photos have the wrong info on them or was it intended as a quiz for all your readers? Taffy x