No Gracias

Cuzco

After an overnight stay in the heighty city of La Paz we were on our way to Cuzco, Peru. The flight was spectacular. We soared over  snowcapped mountain ranges that reached up breaking through the clouded ceiling. I held my breath as the plane changed course certain that the wing would skim a mountain peak. Cold icy caps gave way to plunging green valleys. A still cool lake pooled in one of the valleys.

On arrival at the hostel in Cuzco we were greeted with a warm cup of coca tea- ´for the altitude´. Our time in Cochabamba had given us the opportunity to acclimatise but the warmth of the cup in our chilly hands was reason enough to accept the tea gratefully.                   
Reunion with our friends from uni lead to much storytelling and excited planning. We made our way to Cuzco´s  favourite gringo cafe ´Jack´s´. Any tourist who has made their way through the cobbled streets of Cuzco will point you in the direction of ´Jack´s´ for the best cup of coffee in South America. And it was! 

Cuzco is a city  at conflict with itself. While at first glance its streets appear like the cobbled streets of old world Europe, its city square hemmed by terraces and grand cathedral, down the tiny side streets cracks can be seen in the spanish facade. Evidence of this once great Incan empire bleeds through. Cuzco is littered with tourists. Every corner you turn you narrowly miss bumping into a fellow backpack burdened tourist. They pollute the city streets.
The entrepreneral locals are quick to take advantage of the impressionalable gringos. A vendor waits on every corner with an offer better than the rest. ´Lady, lady! Raybans for just $1 sole! Lady! Look here Lady!´  A sucker for such an incredible, almost unbelievable bargain you get caught in this cleverly spun web. ´Ah lady the case is $1 sole, the Raybans good deal of $70 sole. You want buy lady?´ Suddenly you are surrounded by vendors  selling silver,  scarfs, paintings, wood carvings, beanies,  socks, snacks! You are drowning in a sea of best deals and hard sell vendors- they ain´t guna let this sucker get away.  Then suddenly like a magic trick ´Abra Kadabra!´ they are all gone. The arrival of a frowning policeman can be thanked for you escape. 
And this is how Cuzco lives and breaths vendors lurking here and there and everywhere,  tourists shops and restaurants teeming with gringos, travel agents do a roaring trade and locals pretend to be locals dressing up in traditional dress of days gone by and dragging photogenic llamas along the cobbled streets stopping tourists ´photo with llama lady?´

All that aside Cuzco is an exciting place to visit full of great places to eat, shop and where fake cultural experiences can be had. Armed with the term ´no gracias´you can navigate your way out of most vendor mobs with ease. In fact bargaining with the street vendors can be an experience in itself and a bit of fun.  The cobbled alleyways are enchanting and the sight of familiar faces are welcomed after a long time in tourist-free Cochabamba. We enjoyed exploring Cuzco in the days before and after Inca Trail.

During our time here we decided to brave it and taste the Peruvian delicacy of Cuy - Guinea pig. It was truly awful!   Very bony with little meat (Surprise surprise!) and what there was of it was smokey distinctly pet-like. Yuck! They brought out whoe charred and grinning bearing its tiny guinea teeth. I even thought I may have heard it squeak!

 We also made it to our first South American soccer game. It was very exciting! There were police everywhere armed with riot shields and guns AND trust me the enthusiastic crowd warranted it! The supporters, a group of eager fans who have an unhealthy portion of love for their team get into the game for free. They provide their beloved team with exhaustively consistent cheering and chanting and are reknowned for being particularly dangerous. They beat drums and blow trumpets and chant and jump and swing their ´red and white´shirts over their heads in a animated warrior-like display. This goes on for the whole game. Such passion is fascinating to see. Bottles are not allowed in the stadium  in case emotive supporters become particularly enthused and get a little violent. However, flares are common place. Little makes sense in South America.

Halloween is a big event in Cuzco, Peru.  This october 31st the tricker treaters were out in force.  Every child under the age of 12 was packed into the square walking door to door with mini cauldrons overflowing with sugary treats in hand. The costumes were amazing! No frills spared for these minature princesses, harry potters, and spidermans. My favourite was 5 year old unhappy duck who pulled at his feathers and wailed instead of quacked.
Unfortunately, this halloween night was also when Tiff and I finally succumbed to food poisioning. With one swift blow it took both Tiff and I out they day before Inca trail. Brilliant!

During our time in Cuzco we submitted our final paperwork to the university! I have finally finished! I cant believe it. Strangely it doesnt quite feel real yet. The six years seemed to drag by at times but now it is over I can´t believe how fast it has gone by.  I haven´t celebrated yet- there is plenty of time for that at home with the people  I owe it too.