Blogs from Cusco, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 10

This morning Gina took those of us who were interested on a walking tour of the San Pedro Produce Market. The market is arranged in sections so when we first entered we were in the clothing section of the market. Each stall holder had a classic old Singer sewing machine ready to undertake alterations and repairs on the spot. I think some of the machines may even have been good old-fashioned Singer treadle machines! Behind the textile section Gina explained the juice bar section to us. There were about three rows of stall holders each in a tiny (maybe one square metre?) booth mixing up juices to order. Gina told us that many of Cuzco's residents stop each morning at their favourite juice stall on their way to work. As we worked our way deeper into ... read more

After only a few hours sleeping at the airport hotel in Lima it was time to head back to the airport to check in for our flight to Cusco, Peru. Lima Airport was crazy, busy! Thank goodness we had Gina to facilitate our passage through check-in and security. I'm sure it would have taken us much longer on our own! When we passed through security we saw a huge Perspex container that contained sharp objects that have been confiscated. It was quite shocking what people had in their carry-on bags - full-size scissors, not just small, manicure scissors and all sorts of knives, including at least one 12 inch cook's knife that I could see!! Do people walk around all the time with these sorts of things in their handbags and then just forget they have ... read more

We are checked in at the airport for our flight to lima. We are on an earlier flight leaving at around 730 tonight. ... read more

FACES OF PERU...Fawcett Exploration...In search of Lost Cities. When I was about 10 or 11, I read a picture book about a guy named Percy Fawcett who was the first man to survey the border between Peru, Brazil & Bolivia. Not like my heroes...Superman, the Phantom, the Justice League, Lion & Eagle magazines, Shintaro & the Ninjas on TV. He was real. A 20th century man. Yet his adventures were the yeast of courage, determination and adventure into uncharted lands. No idea as a child that this would lead to my obsession with adventure...exploration...and travel. Later in life I read the unabridged version collated from his diaries by his son. My real life hero...Percy Fawcett...whose story ultimately led me to Peru...following a childhood dream. The dream was to search for lost cities...and to ultimately discover one. ... read more

We had a great breakfast at the Palacio del Inka. There was a harp player to entertain us. Probably the nicest breakfasts ever. Lots of fresh juices, all sorts of pastries, meats, cheeses, granolas, fresh honey dripping off of a honey comb. Sadly there were no chocolate covered strawberries. Perhaps another day for that. Ha ha. We also found the storage vault for the wine, cheese and meat at the Palacio del Inka. Will be off for a tour of the sacred valley for the rest of the day.... read more