Hola again, this time from Cusco. We survived our overnight journey from Quito with the 6 hours at Lima airport, but were we bushed when we landed. We made good use of your blanket and pillow, Wendy.
We were picked up by a taxi driver sent by the hotel and got our first experience with the loco driving here. They drive so agressively and the streets are very narrow and twisty, you´re taking your life in your hands. The upside is they´re incredibly cheap. Taxi rides anywhere in Cusco are a flat rate of 3 soles ($1) so there´s no reason to climb the very steep hills. Our hotel is in the San Blas district, way up there. Coming down you run the gauntlet of hawkers. They´re way more persistent than in Quito, and with so many selling for so little, you wonder how they survive. We were welcomed at the hotel by Cristina, who gave us a cup of coca tea, supposed to relieve the effects of altitude sickness. She armed us with a map and some ideas of places to visit.
After an all-too-short rest, we headed into town (the narrowly cobbled streets are used as sidewalks too so you have to be very alert and jump out of the way quickly) and spent well over an hour trying to locate the travel agent she recommended. The map was a photocopy of a photocopy, on and on, and not very clear and the one we picked up from the Information Centre wasn´t detailed enough. The streets seem to change names every block or two so that doesn´t help. We stopped for lunch and revived enough for another attempt and finally found it on a street we´d been up several times. Then we spent the whole afternoon arranging our time with tours. We attended a folkloric dance performance last night but Jim was having great difficulty staying awake after one hour´s sleep, so we left at half time and taxied to the hotel.
Today we took an all-day tour of the Sacred Valley, visiting ancient Incan sites at Pisac and Ollantaytamba, a market and several craft stalls (they have the sweetest children posing with llamas, how can you resist giving them money?), and lunch along the way. We had a alpaca dyeing and weaving demo at another stop. Of course as our guide said, you can use one hand to wave thanks, and the other to dig in your pocket for money to buy some of the crafts! Our group took him to heart. Great value at $20 pp. The craft market we stopped at is funded by the Korean government. Korean NGOs also help the farmers. Eucalyptus trees, imported originally from Australia, are a big crop in the area, used in housing and utensils. So tomorrow night we´re taking the bus to Puno, arriving at 4:00 am for two days on Lake Titicaca (even higher elevation). Thank goodness the Diamox is working. We return to Cusco on Easter Sunday, then we´re off to Machu Picchu.
PS A follow-up to the Palm Sunday procession. I´ve since learned it´s called Domingo de Ramos in Ecuador, roughly translated as ¨Bouquet Sunday¨, in reference to the scattered rose petals, I assume. The reason they carried corn husks instead of palm fronds is there are endangered birds nesting in the palm trees so the ecologists asked the worshipers to substitute corn this year. Also, on reviewing my photos, I see the man representing Jesus was riding the burro off and on; it just got too rambunctious so he got off for awhile. And the ¨float¨carrying the effigy of Jesus was a platform carried only by women, Jim informs me. Thanks Diana and Carell for your input on Palm Sunday
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