Around Cusco
Trip Start
Jan 28, 2008
1
67
83
Trip End
Sep 18, 2008
Cusco,
Peru
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Ok, it has been over 10 days, and still Cameron hasn´t added anything. Seriously folks, his typing is like waiting for a snail to do a back flip...
But we did really like the food!
Ok, here we go! - Cam
The highlight of Cusco for us was delicious affordable food. We were able to taste some local cuisine as well as some old favourites like Thai green curries. The good food, warming weather, having just completed our walk to Machu Picchu and being constantly on the road since hitting South America made Cusco the perfect place to chill out for a few days
Cusco Main Square...where you find tourists
. Breakfast or late brunches were something we really enjoyed. The hot chocolates were a little different but when we found the cloves at the bottom of our mugs we understood why. Something to try when we get home! The set breakfasts were huge. Fruit salad with yoghurt and honey, eggs or omelette, toast and jam, juice and of course hot chocolate. We found a community run café that supported a community school and other community projects making a good place to hang.
It took a lot of emails and a few phone calls for Jillian to organise a music workshop. It turned out to be the first day we had spent apart since we left home in November, and we were both a little nervous. Jillian spent the day playing some Andean music on traditional instruments. It was a family affair with the musician, his Swiss wife, and his grandmother joining the mini jam session. The family spoke English, Spanish and Quechua as well as playing some fun music.
That night we went to a South American Explorers Club dinner. It was an opportunity to eat some tasty Andean food and to mix with some other travellers. We swapped our stories of trying to use poor Spanish and travelling for hours on buses.
We also went to see an Andean folklore play named Chaska. It was a colourful play with actors moving all around and above the stage. There were cargo nets, platforms and ropes and pulleys where the action took place. Chaska was the story of a village girl who makes a pilgrimage up a mountain. On the way she learns about the creation of the World, Incan pre-history and history. She makes the ultimate sacrifice to return the light from the Chihuaco bird and save her village.
