Cusco - el ombligo del mundo (the navel of the world)

there is a conversation i seem to have been repeatedly having with perus friendly taxi drivers and such. it normally goes like this " what do you think of peru?" "have you tried ceviche?" "and have you been to cusco?" "no?" "oh if you havent been to cusco you havent been to peru!"
well now i can finally answer this with "yes!"




views from hostal window

alternative view form hostal window



cusco is a beautiful sight from the air as you fly in, the terracota roofs remind me of flying into a town in spain or italy. first impressions are total contrast from perus current capital lima, cusco is a relaxed kind of place, where everythig moves a bit slower and the people speak nice and slow too! i couldnt help but notice that i didnt not have any pressure problems with my ears on landing, and this is of course because cusco is at 3000 metres above sea level.
the taxi driver picked up a couple of old ladys along the way from the airport all of whom were chatty, one of them recommended i try the local drink "mate de coca" to help me aclimatize to the altitude. mate de coca is a kind of tea made from coca leaves. i was familiar with the name because che guevara and his buddy alberto couldnt get enough of the stuff on their motorbike trip around south america in ches book "the motorcicle diarys".
i dropped off my things at a hostel and took a walk around the town though after just an hour the altitude began to affect me. on the walk back to the hostel which coincidentally is situated on a street so impossibly steep that the footpath is a stairs! i began to feel totally out of breath and wobbly at the knees. i evenuially made it to the hostel and climbed into my dorm bed to sleep it off for a few hours. everyone was eating the pre-ordered dinner when i woke up, i had not ordered any so i went for a wander to find me a restaurant. close by i found a small peruvian restaurant where for just 5 soles they serve a healthy 2 course meal with a cup of mate. the mate made my tongue a little numb, i dont know if it really cured my altitude sickness but it certainly made me feel better about it. without further ado i went to the hostel bar, made some friends (with the only 2 south americans i could find) and went out for an inspection of cuscos nightlife. similarly to mancora , the nighlife in cusco seems affected somewhat by outside influence. some of the clubs reminded me a little (too much) of home. there was some ,but certainly less of the latin music and more of the other stuff.


Carolina and Mariana stand beside the famous 12 sided stone which is part of an ancient incan wall.















I stopped in a small town square to catch my breath. there was a couple of guys playing some kind of traditional music with a drum and whistle and these girls were doing a dance to the music.



many of the buildings in cusco feature a mixture of old inca stones and spanish walls built on top of them. perhaps this is an authentic example.




Cuscos dark side
peruvian punk band plays in the bar "7 angelitos"
this guy was a good bass player though sloppy at times, but then i guess it would not be punk music otherwise. note the strangled llama on the drum kit.


Day 2
well if Cusco was the navel of the world for the incas, it must now be the navel of the tourist industry in south america. and the hornets nest for all the irish backpackers.
i was woken up this morning to a ringing headache by an irish guy trying to wake his friend to go for a breakfast roll and then to paddy` s pub to watch the match!
Where am I ?



i have been overcome by tiredness today and slept most of the day. i reserved dinner at the hostel and wont be doing that again, i had to queue up with my plate for a puny serving at twice the going price for a meal cusco. i was still hungry so i popped out and into a small place along the street. it was a tiny family run place, in fact it seemed as though the whole family was there also having dinner.

the lady cooked me a beautiful pizza in this oven, and i got another cup of mate de coca (for the altitude of course hehe)

read about Cusco here
read about mate de coca here