Hola! My friend Oscar and I took the "8" hour bus trip from Arequipa to the gringo city, Cusco. Of course, in typical South-America fashion, the 8 hour bus trip was actually 10 hours....and it was the trip from hell as I'd managed to pick-up a hideous stomach upset. I vomited and spent a long time in the banos, (toilet) for most of the trip! At one stage, I vomited all over Oscar's bag, which he took very much in his stride......
Suddenly, we heard a loud bang! I imagined we'd hit something - maybe a llama? No, one of the bus's tyres had blown and the side of the bus was peeled back like an orange skin. All of the passengers piled off the bus and watched as three guys, took off their shirts and climbed under the bus with a steel pole. I still don't know how they managed to elevate the bus, but they pushed two metal poles together and used that as a lever to get the split tyre off and a new one on. While this was happening, a woman in traditional gear appeared from nowhere carrying a large piece of meat wrapped in a blanket. She sold pieces of lamb, hacking pieces off with a huge knife!
We finally reached Cusco, which is now considered Peru's tourism capital. This fabulous picturesque city has an elevation of 3,500 metres and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. I am staying at Hotel Cahuide and my friend and I went for drinks at the nearby Crown, one of the many bars and clubs that surround the Plaza de Armas. In the Inca times, the square was mainly used for ceremonial purposes - now it's a major procession site and people watching location. I've taken a strong liking to the famous 'Pisco Sour" which is brandy made from grapes and includes egg-white and cinnamon. My frine drinks Cusquena, the Cuso beer which is not bad, and that's an assessment from a non-beer drinker.
Cusco is a great small city, wooden balconies, women in layered shirts wearing stove-pipped hats over long, black plaits, chat in Quechua on the Cathedral steps, fragments of the past hovering in the present. An earthquake of 1650 destroyed most of Cusco's Spanish structures - but the Inca foundations remained and under the patronage of the Bishop - the city was rebuilt.Most of the city you can explore on foot, except for the killer steep stairs!
Two more days in Cusco and I'm off on the Salkantay trek - five days at an altitude of 4,600 metres... Ciao!
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