This weekend

The first part of the of the weekend was devoted to moving my stuff from my family's house to the hostal. Thankfully Cesar helped with this. Before we left I went out to the local market to buy Elizabeth a plant. After finding a great palm that I liked and agreeing a price, I then went to a plant pot stall and bought a large earthenware pot. On presenting this to the lady at the plant stall she asked for 2 soles to buy some dirt and returned with enough to pot the plant. It turned out to be a great looking house plant for only 36 soles or £6. I felt a bit cheap but it would easily have cost £40 in the UK and I had taken some trouble to select something nice.

After this my family took me to a typical restaurant out of town where I had trout. All of the cooking was on a wood fire outside and it was fantastic meal and a nice way to say goodbye.

I settled into my hostal and then hired a bike for a ride the next day. I headed off for Pisac on Sunday stopping at the Llama/Alpaca/weaving centre where I saw some very high quality but expensive weaving. It was a tough climb out of Cuzco. I also stopped at some Inca ruins at Huacacancha. Eventually I was rewarded with a fantastic descent into the Sacred valley – it seemed to go on for ever with the most magnificent views.

After Pisac I spent the rest of the day riding fast and flat along the valley following the river through Calca to Urabamba, probably around 50 miles in all. Then I found a bus and stowed the bike on top and returned to Cuzco where I spent my first night in the Hostal and prepared myself mentally for the first day of school on Monday.

Last week at school

It is some days since my last post and over the last week I have been consolidating my Spanish and enjoying some different experiences. Some of my time has been devoted to establishing the second phase of my visit – this has presented some problems which now seem to have been overcome. My voluntary project, www.bruceperu.com has had some problems in that the previous volunteer leader allegedly made off with the cash and her Columbian boyfriend. Hopefully matters are now settled and I am due to move into the volunteer hostal tomorrow and begin working at a school on Monday. Hopefully this will all go well.

My school, www.excel-spanishlanguageprograms-peru.org has been great, well organised and efficient and I would be happy to recommend it to anyone who may be interested. I had a great teacher Maria Ines and learned a lot which hopefully I can retain. My home stay, also organised by the school was tremendous with lots of conversation, a warm and friendly family setting and comfortable accommodation.

Tuesday - as is usual I went out and about with my teacher, mainly to practise language in real situations. I had noticed a furniture exhibition/conference being held and we blagged our way in. Amusingly the conference hall was rather full and presentations in full throes and we were accordingly escorted to the front row where there were some empty seats. I think we were then mistaken for visiting VIPs but in any case we got a free lunch and I tried my first Inca Cola which wasn't too bad. After this we visited a furniture institute where apprentices are trained and were shown round by a technician.

Wednesday - I took my adopted family/hosts out to dinner – we had a great meal and I ate an Alpaca steak which was OK and we enjoyed the ambiance of our restaurant and its outlook onto Plaza de Armas, the main square.

Thursday – I went to a Peruvian food evening at www.saexplorers.org where it was possible to try different dishes served up with pisco sours and Cusquena beer. This was a great evening and I chatted with several English people and bought a recipe book signed by Carmen our Chef.

Friday - I said good bye to my school and it was a bit sad but afterwards was taken by Cesar my host to some factory and jewelery outlets where I bought some Christmas presents.

Caminata A Lares

This was a 2 day walk organised by my school from just beyond Urambamba in the Valle Sagrado at 2,870M to Lares Balinearios (hot springs) taking a mountain pass at 4,900M to Valle de Lares and eventually by tourist bus back to Cuzco.

We set off from the school just after 6 am in a luxurious bus, 4 students and 1 teacher/guide. From Urambamba we took a track a further few kilometeres to where we met Paulino and some of his family. He brought a number of small horses to carry our packs, tents and food and one horse for Tammy who was suffering with some blisters, so walked some of the way and rode some too. Tammy is tall, about 6 feet and the horse was small so she was both concerned about its strength to carry her and how it looked.

We walked some way, always climbing and following a fast flowing stream along attractive wooded paths. On the way we met two children who told us that they traveled 2 hour to and from school each day. After some time and a bit of a rest we were joined by two others, a young couple from USA who were going the same way so we teamed up for company and continued on. We passed a number of sights including Inca ruins and waterfalls and we always had a spectacular view of the Sacred Valley receding behind us.

Eventually we reached some woods high in the mountains where we made camp, cooked and lit a fire to keep warm. That night was beautifully star light but freezing and we awoke to a ground frost, cooked breakfast and set off for the high pass at 4,900M just after 7 am. On reaching it we were greeted by spectacular views of the snow capped mountain range beyond, with the cloud base below where we stood. At the top was an Inca a shrine where we laid stones collected from the river below, one for each of our loved ones, for each of whom we made a wish.

We then began to descend and passed sparkling lagoons and mountains with small glaciers. On reaching a village about 1000M below we stopped for lunch in some school grounds and chatted to some children offering them sweets which we had brought for that purpose.

Eventually, at around 3 we reached Lares hot springs where our Portadoras had set up our tents. We swam and bathed in the springs and enjoyed a meal in a small open air restaurant which was close by. The next morning after some further bathing and breakfast we were collected by a tourist bus and driven some 30 kilometres out of the Lares Valley along some white knuckle track with steep drops below, finally returning to Cuzco for lunch.

This was a spectacular walk with some of the best views I have ever seen. We were a companionable group and all felt the journey of some 35Km had been very worthwhile.

You can see more photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tizer/

Coming to terms with my limits

Over the last few days I have pushed myself quite hard with physical activity. On Saturday a group from the school went to a place that is called little cusco in Kechwa (Huchuy Qosqo). This meant a ride in a bus followed by a steep climb of about 1000'. At he halfway point we met a man on a horse. It was previously wild having been caught lat year and this was its first outing up the hill. Wen we reached the top and some ruins we were greeted by a very friendly young man who lived alone on the mountain. Retuning in a shared taxi we were frightened to death by our driver, particularly when he braked for a dog.

The next day I hired a bike and guide and we went to Moray and some salineras. Unfortunately I forgot my camera battery and missed some great photos. Moray is a huge, mainly circular set of agricultural terraces built by the Incas, said to be experimental with individual micro-climates at different levels. The salineras are about 1000 or more salt pans situated in a valley with a natural system of feeding salty water from a spring into wells with porous walls whereby the sun evaporates off the water leaving salty deposits for use in agriclture.

Some of the ride was easy but we went through some technical sections, both had impact punctures but had great fun. On returning we got off the bus above Cuzco for an exhilarating descent only spoiled by the odd llama feeding at the side of the road!

Finally, yesterday I found a spinning class near my house and managed a 45 minute session. Interestingly it was difficult to raise my heart rate above 80% due to shortage of breath owing to the altitude.

A tiring few days but probably good training for a forthcoming caminata to Lares some hot springs over a 4,900 metre mountain!

The Streets of Cuzco

Museums are interesting but life on the streets of Cuzco provides a greater insight into the lot of the people here. Most streets near and towards the centre are busy. There is a great deal of traffic, particularly taxis, usually very small Dawoos that speed constantly to and fro. If they are empty they toot as they pass a likely customer. The fumes from the traffic are strong and it is clear that many vehicles would not pass emission tests. You need to take care because cars don't slow down for corners and rarely signal - if you do get in the way they have fast reactions and rarely show annoyance. As well as taxis, combi-vans pass stopping at paraderos (bus stops) , occasionally a boy jumps out running to a machine where he stamps a card and dashes back. Combis are some where between buses and taxis in price but follow a set route.

Much can be bought on the street- there is a fleet of ice cream tricycles and others that sell general goods. Shoe shiners line parts of the street and girls stand on corners calling “llamadas llamadas” selling telephone credit. Money changers stand on Avenida Sol clutching a wad of bank notes and a calculator and nearer the centre girls call “masaje sir?”.

All kinds of food can be bought, most commonly, tamales, chicken soup and rice, sweets, pineapple cut into slices. today in the Feria near my house people were selling cooked Pork cut there and then from the bodies of small pigs and fancy bread either in the form of a hrse for boys or a doll for girls.

Many streets have people begging – this includes whole families sitting on the pavement, very old women, people with physical disabilities and sometimes families with animals and children in traditional costume hoping for photograph opportunities.

I have counted five kinds of police, national, local, transit, tourist and private and often they stand on corners in groups of three or four. They are invariably smartly dressed and yesterday I saw some security guards leaving a bank heading for a truck – they had packets of bank notes and there guns were drawn as they walked cautiously to the van.

I suppose tourists make up an obvious proportion of street life and we all look fairly out of place and obvious among the throng.

This is also a city of young people and children are everywhere often smartly dressed in uniform on their way to or from school. Largely they seem polite and well behaved. In the evenings the centre has many young people and night clubs stay open until 4 or 5 am, later I am told than in other parts of the country. Lastly, one sees quite a lot of young couples, often cuddling and kissing one another with a relative lack of self consciousness.

These are lively streets, a slice of life here in Cuzco, and with much to offer the casual observer.

El fin de semana

On Saturday, after a jog in the non-existent park I headed into town to bag as many museums as possible from my boleto. I visited a series of small art and history museums none of which had a great deal to offer. I found a Novatel for lunch with a mixture of French and Peruvian fare. This wasn't like Novatels I have experienced in France – it had a real air of luxury and near perfect service – I dined on a Peruvian club sandwich and local beer enjoying the peace of an ample courtyard with a closed but windowed roof.

After this I headed off to another ruin, Quento, but got lost on the way and stumbled on The Temple of the Moon. This included a dark cave with an opening to the sky where the moon shone at certain times and an enterprising youth hid in the dark and frightened me as I entered. I chatted a while with a French Canadian girl who had arrived with a guide by horse and then found my way to Q'uenco. This included a large stone hill that had been bisected with zig-zag passages that offered opportunities to explore.

On Sunday I took a bus ride int the Sacred Valley, to Pisaq. The bus was full and I had to stand both ways but the round trip of almost an hour each way only cost 40p. First we climbed about a 1.300 feet before descending a further 2000 into the valley. An elderly man with poor vision sang for tips. Arriving at Pisqa the Sunday market dominated the small town and apart from the usual stuff you could see the baking of bread in a large wood fired oven and view the cuy (guinea pig) in both their cute and edible forms. Keeping faith with my family I opted for vegetable soup, and then set off for about an hour's steep climb to the ruins, a hill top Inca citadel. The Sacred Valley is phenomenal. Through it runs the Rumbamba river. It is surrounded by mountains, some of which are neatly terraced for cultivation. At its base there is a large flat and fertile floor. The ruins are extensive but were spoilt somewhat at weekends by bus loads of kids that had come up via the road. One small group of young people insisted that I be photographed along side them – at first I thought it was some kind of scam but followed my instincts and I think they were just wanting to create a bit of Gringo interest in their photo collection. On the way down I met a Spanish Crystal Palace supporter- he even had a CP hat – how strange!

Finally I returned to the village for crepes and Ice cream and the whole day out, including some beads that I allowed myself to be persuaded into buying cost only 33 Soles or £5.50!

Sexy Woman

Lessons today were punctuated by the need to pose with my teacher for photos in a Pancho and sombrero. I complied obediently and as you can see managed to look quite silly! After this I went to the town hall to buy my 10 day boleton for the sights of Cuzco. This cost 70 Soles or about £11 which seems quite reasonable. After lunch I made my way to Saqsaywamán ( which means 'satisfied falcon') an Inca archaeological site high above the city.

Losing my way slightly I found myself on the longest staircase that I ever climbed. This went up through a fairly impoverished section of the city and groups of dogs eyed me curiously. Alighting at the top a very cheerful man chatted with me and told me to be careful because often the downhill cyclists used the stairs for a super thrill. Eventually I found myself at the site and along the way made friends with Tom a young Australian Biologist taking time of from doctorate studies and making his way through South America.

We really enjoyed the site which is constructed of huge tightly fitting stones forming a fortress comprising of the remains of ramparts that follow the contours of the hills, 300 ton stone and a king's throne.

Climbing the hill and various parts of the site made me realise that I was at least another week away from really strenuous exercise but I have now found a bike shop willing to hire out reasonably equipped Scotts and Giants for about £7.50 a day. I am told there is a group that goes out on Sundays so I will try and make contact and fix up a ride for next week. For now I plan a run in the park or around the Plaza, Saturday before breakfast and then have a day visiting museums and churches.

Returning from the visit Tom and I had expensive (well, 5 soles, less than £1) but very nice coffee in a swish café but we were bothered quite a bit by people trying to sell stuff – even though one politely declines they aways come back with, “well maybe tomorrow sir” – such is the nature of the Cusquenans.

We went our separate ways and shortly I saw a huge group of children in procession around the city centre with lanterns and followed by a cavalcade of cars festooned with balloons - I was told that this was an annual event – it seems that there is some kind of public activity every day. After this I enjoyed watching part of a fast and skillful basket ball game between two university teams in a small stadium off Avenida del Sol, and finally some traditional dance being practiced in the local Plaza near where I live.

I really enjoyed this afternoon. Cuzco is so rich in activities, really friendly and vibrant and so far, seemingly quite safe.