Wednesday 19th September: Cuzco
Cuzco is a fantatstic place to get lost in. Especially if you´re looking for a work out for both your lungs and your legs! It is full of narrow and steeply winding cobblestone roads with tiny tourist shops overflowing with apalca scarves, gloves, socks etc, as well as an enormous variety of cafes, restaurants, bars, internet cafes (1 sole per hour, 30 US cents!), and ofcourse, hundreds of tour agencies, hotels and hostals... How these places manage to make enough money to survive the rainy season is a mystery, as they all entice you with free drinks, free salad bar, free appetizers, free massage... anything to get you inside their store or restaurant!
Today is Day of the Tourist in Cusco. So we were treated to a great display of local dance and music in the Plaza de Armas. The Peruvian people are very friendly and are all keen to engage you in conversation in both english or spanish... ofcourse they want you to buy a postale or pintura or anything (was offered a pair of used scissors??!!) at the end of the conversation!
On my wanderings, I discovered a great little Spanish school/volunteer programme in one of the alleyways- http://www.proyectoperucentre.org/- and signed up for 4 hours of spanish classes with them. So, I spent a good 2 hours just speaking Spanish this afternoon, was fantastic! But also a bit of a mind-numbing experience as I battled to conjugate verbs and remember grammar... and the topic of discussion for 2 hours... politics in South Africa and Peru and poverty in Africa versus South America and solutions if any!! Hells Bells! 2 hours of that would tire me out in English let alone Spanish!!!
After I left the tiny little school (highly recommend to anyone wanting to spend some time volunteering in Peru, you work with school children and learn spanish and stay with a local family for a period of time), I went looking for Tracy and Mel (friends from Cayman) who have arrived back from their trek today. They´re staying in Hotel Marquesas. I totally had hotel envy when I walked in and saw their posh abode.. ofcourse they are paying 50US$ per night each whilst I am payng 14 US$, so there is a slight difference there... and come on, my hostal has vibe, oodles and oodles of vibe (sleep, who sleeps in cuzco?).
Anyhow, hooked up with the girls for drinks and dinner and had a fab night with them drinking Pisco sourz (my new favourite drink, made with egg white, pisco, lemon, bitters and blended ice) and we tried out 2 local dishes- ceviche de trucha and some stuffed peppers with mince and beans, both yummy! There was a bit of a scuffle about who was going to draw the short straw and order the Guinea Pig, luckily I am totally on a winning streak!!
Caribbean Chicken´s Backpacking tip of the Day:
Always get your mate to try the Guinea Pig first. (see exhibit A)
Cuzco is a fantatstic place to get lost in. Especially if you´re looking for a work out for both your lungs and your legs! It is full of narrow and steeply winding cobblestone roads with tiny tourist shops overflowing with apalca scarves, gloves, socks etc, as well as an enormous variety of cafes, restaurants, bars, internet cafes (1 sole per hour, 30 US cents!), and ofcourse, hundreds of tour agencies, hotels and hostals... How these places manage to make enough money to survive the rainy season is a mystery, as they all entice you with free drinks, free salad bar, free appetizers, free massage... anything to get you inside their store or restaurant!
Today is Day of the Tourist in Cusco. So we were treated to a great display of local dance and music in the Plaza de Armas. The Peruvian people are very friendly and are all keen to engage you in conversation in both english or spanish... ofcourse they want you to buy a postale or pintura or anything (was offered a pair of used scissors??!!) at the end of the conversation!
On my wanderings, I discovered a great little Spanish school/volunteer programme in one of the alleyways- http://www.proyectoperucentre.org/- and signed up for 4 hours of spanish classes with them. So, I spent a good 2 hours just speaking Spanish this afternoon, was fantastic! But also a bit of a mind-numbing experience as I battled to conjugate verbs and remember grammar... and the topic of discussion for 2 hours... politics in South Africa and Peru and poverty in Africa versus South America and solutions if any!! Hells Bells! 2 hours of that would tire me out in English let alone Spanish!!!
After I left the tiny little school (highly recommend to anyone wanting to spend some time volunteering in Peru, you work with school children and learn spanish and stay with a local family for a period of time), I went looking for Tracy and Mel (friends from Cayman) who have arrived back from their trek today. They´re staying in Hotel Marquesas. I totally had hotel envy when I walked in and saw their posh abode.. ofcourse they are paying 50US$ per night each whilst I am payng 14 US$, so there is a slight difference there... and come on, my hostal has vibe, oodles and oodles of vibe (sleep, who sleeps in cuzco?).
Anyhow, hooked up with the girls for drinks and dinner and had a fab night with them drinking Pisco sourz (my new favourite drink, made with egg white, pisco, lemon, bitters and blended ice) and we tried out 2 local dishes- ceviche de trucha and some stuffed peppers with mince and beans, both yummy! There was a bit of a scuffle about who was going to draw the short straw and order the Guinea Pig, luckily I am totally on a winning streak!!
Caribbean Chicken´s Backpacking tip of the Day:
Always get your mate to try the Guinea Pig first. (see exhibit A)
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