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Published: October 8th 2014
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Farmers Market Day!! Prior to coming to Cusco we heard about their amazing Farmers Market so Kelly and I could not wait to check it out. If it is locally grown, it can be found here at the San Pedro Market… and what a total culture experience! Loved this place! Nothing makes you feel like you are in a totally different culture than the San Pedro Market. So many colors, flavors, smells, things to wonder at. At the market you’ll find fresh produce, meats of numerous varieties, homemade cheeses, grains and even kitchenware, clothes and home decorations. The market is divided up much like a grocery or department store, with booths selling similar items on the same aisle (or multiple aisles).
We started in the clothing and other homemade products aisles. Peru is known for their Alpaca wool so on these aisles you find Alpaca everything, sweaters, scarves, hats, etc. The wool is very soft. Old Peruvian women sit over their sewing machines in the aisles, making the products right in front of you.
My favorite aisles were the fruit and vegetable ones, the size of the vegetables will blow your mind! I saw avocados
the size of potatoes and carrots the eggplants. All of it looked so fresh and delicious. There was also a lot of produce that I have never seen before and I wished I knew Spanish so I could have asked the vendors.
The worst (smelling) aisle was definitely the meat aisle. On this aisle we saw whole pig heads, guinea pigs, steaks, fish, every animal part you can imagine all laid out on the tables with nothing covering them but the flies. We saw men with axes just hacking away at red fleshy bodies. If you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian and just need some motivation come to this market. The lack of refrigeration and the sheer number of flies will make you stay clear of meat for a while.
We stopped on the smoothie aisle for a break. On this aisle the women each have their own stands and they wear white lab coats and wave menus at you until you come and sit down. Their stands resemble juice bars with the customers sitting on a couple of wooden stools while the “juicers” stand behind a pile of fruits and vegetables next
to their blender and juicer. I decided on a passion fruit and orange smoothie while Kelly went with a banana and orange. We watched the lady make the smoothie right in right of us with all fresh ingredients and not surprisingly it was delicious. As we sat and drank our smoothies, the lady taught us the Spanish words for the different fruits and vegetables. She spoke no English but luckily with Kelly’s broken Spanish we were able to get by.
On another aisle there were women that made fresh soups and other traditional entrees. Entire families would crowd around one stand and spoon huge helpings of soup from their bowls. It was so awesome to see these families, sitting on wooden stools, just sitting around talking over soup. It really looked like this is the activity they every family does after church on Sunday. And there are no tables or napkins or waiters, just a woman behind her stove making a meal for a hungry family. It was definitely a sight I will never forget.
After lunch we walked over to the San Blas area of town, Cusco's most atmospheric and picturesque neighborhood. The
neighborhood is known for its art galleries and steep hills. Since it is only day 2 Kelly and I are still feeling the effects of altitude so these steep hills were torture. To get to this area we walked past the Hatunrumiyoc and its 12 angled stone. The stone itself is a good example of the Inca dexterity in stonemasonry; I mean come on the stone has 12 sides! This particular stone is perhaps the most well-known showpiece example of the mastery of stonework that the Incans possessed. It is displayed not only in this one piece, but of course as the whole; how everything else fit around it with such precision. It is best appreciated with the understanding that they did this with simple tools, bronze hammerstones and sand to grind. The stone is placed in the wall of the archbishop palace (a former Inca palace).
That evening we went to the orientation for our hike which was set to begin the next day. The orientation was very helpful but also very intimidating; I definitely did not know what we were signing up for. But I knew I would make it through and that it would
be an adventure. After orientation we went to dinner with three Germans from our group and we finally tried some of the local favorites. I had the alpaca which was amazing, it tasted just like filet mignon, I could eat it every night. We also tried guinea pig (cuy) which was terrible. They first bring it out whole, eye balls and teeth and all; they do this so you can take pictures with it. Once you are done with your selfies they take it back in the kitchen and cut it for you. But what we discovered was that there is very little meat on the guinea pig. Additionally, the meat itself tastes very sweet and is definitely an acquired taste. I was not a fan.
After dinner back at the hostel we had to repack our stuff in preparation for the hike. We are only allowed to bring 7kg on the hike (around 14 pounds) so we had to move the essentials into a duffel bag and then we left our big backpacks at the hostel. We are nervous and excited for the hike to start tomorrow.
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