Since my horrible journey here I've only had positive experiences in Cusco. It's a really beautiful city, despite the throngs of tourists. I'm quite enjoying the tourists actually, as I'm ready to head home soon and they make me feel as if I'm half way there. My first day was spent shopping in and around the huge market near Plaza de Armas. I didn't mean to buy much, but I kind of got carried away, so there'll be lots of presents when I get back ;) It was great to sniff out the few family-run stalls that sold handmade products among the mostly mass-poduced things. I got chatting to a lady whose family carves gourds for a living and she gave me a demonstration of how they work and explained all the different techniques and designs. Haggling for the best prices was fun, too, and I managed to get a real bargain on a kilo of pure alpaca wool - just 65 soles, which is around €14.60. That would barely get me 100 g back home! My backpack has now swelled to ridiculous proportions though and I may have a little difficulty getting it all home. I'll deal with that when the time comes, however.
Being a foodie, a complete foodie and nothing but a foodie, I have also been sampling lots of local delights, my favourite so far being strips of alpaca meat sautéed with onion, tomato and chips, and served with rice. Sooooo tasty. I was looking forward to trying some guinea pig last night, but couldn't find the place I'd seen the day before. I'll hunt that down on my free day after the Machu Picchu trek. Coca tea has helped me tremendously with the alititude and is really very tasty. It's no substitute for a good cup o' char but it'll do. I really can't wait to make myself a proper cup of tea when I get home!
At breakfast in a fairly posh and very delicious bakery set in the courtyard of a beautiful colonial house yesterday I got chatting to a guy from Peterborough and have been hanging around with him. He's a nice bloke and I've really enjoyed having an English person around. I didn't realise how much I'd been missing my fellow brits. Anyway, the day was spent wandering around the city looking at all the wonderful architecture and stopping off for coca tea every now and then. We got chatting to an 83 year-old local man in the Plaza de Armas for an hour. He was fascinating and had loads to tell us about Cusco and the history of the Incas in the region. He taught us some phrases in Quechua, too, but I promptly forgot them. Anyway, I gave him some money for lunch after he'd told us so much intersting stuff, and then we went off to the Inca museum. It was an interesting place with loads of artifacts. However, visiting museums at altitude is not necessarily worthwhile, as i think your brain tends to shrink or something. It certainly doesn't work as well as it normally does!
Other than that, I've just been enjoying the sunshine and the views. I'm meeting up with my tour group in an hour; I'm excited and am curious to know what my room mate will be like. I really hope we get on! And then it's not long until I start the trip back to Deutschland and all my friends. I can't wait, although I tend to thoroughly enjoy all the outdoor activities in store over the next two weeks in the meantime.
Love to you all, miss you lots!
D xxxx
