Cusco

Well, I´ve managed to stay in Cusco for longer than I thought! I ended up taking some Spanish lessons, meeting up with some friends from Pisco, going on a trek to Machu Picchu (separate blog) and having way too much fun!

Let´s see...

I went out to a bar one night with some friends from Pisco, and tried Shisha (a large bong filled with flavoured tobacco) for the first time. It was a lot of fun.

Actually, we have gone to the bars a lot. All of the night clubs around here have people in the streets handing out free drink tickets to get you to go into their clubs. AND every bar has a different happy hour, where you can get two drinks for the price of one!

Cusco is a really pretty town! It has a really nice main square with three cathedrals and there is so much to do here. I have found some awesome (and cheap) restaurants too! One of them serves a vegetarian meal for only 5 soles. ($1.25) and you get tea, soup as a starter and a full entree with rice and some vegetarian meal. I love eating here.

In our cooking class this week, we made papas rellenas (stuffed potatoes). Basically you mash potatoes, roll them into balls, flatten them, then stuff them with veggies, and reform them into potatoes. The best part? You then deep fry them and eat them with spicy aji (a hot pepper sauce). I´m going to miss the food!

The other day, we went to visit Qorikancha, an Inca site in the city. What remains of the Inca walls now surrounds a colonial church. It was the head of the Inca Empire, and was mostly covered in gold!

Oh ya, and this is the one purchase I´m probably going to regret not making!

On the way to Cusco

After all the excitement in Huacachina, we decided it was time to move on. We booked an overnight bus ticket to Cusco (the ride was 18 hours) for the following day.

We spent the day in Ica, doing stuff, (i.e. giving police officers money) including a wine and pisco tour by a local taxi driver. It was neat to get out into the country and go to some private wineries and learn how pisco is made.

After that, we went back to Ica, for dinner and to catch our 7:30pm bus. Getting to the bus station at 7 just in case the bus arrived early (ha!), it was about 8:30 before we asked where the bus was. Oh it caught on fire. I think they were lying to us and the 7:30 bus just didn´t exist. We ended up waiting for the 9:30 bus, which showed up at 11:15pm. Gotta love Peruvian time. It´s funny because we went all out and purchased a ticket with the expensive bus company and one of their statements is that they are always punctual! Riiight.

Anyway, we got on the bus (which provided us with blankets, movies, a crappy breakfast, and 2 roadside stops). The bus was trekking it through the mountains along tiny winding roads and I woke up multiple times in the night to look out the window and there was no road in front of us! (We book the very front seats on the top deck). Also, I had to demand one the roadside stops because you are only allowed to go #1 on the bus, and 18 hours is a LONG time.

We arrived safely in Cusco on Tuesday around 4pm. I haven´t done much here, yet. Suzy used to volunteer here a couple of months ago, so she introduced me to the city and the volunteer organization she worked with. We also toured around a bunch of the different markets. I picked up some alpaca clothing to keep me warm!

On Wednesday, we went to a cooking class and we learned (kind of) how to make a potato dish.

Cusco is an awesome city, it´s so pretty. I think I´m going to stick around and take some Spanish lessons before I move on again!

Will have more pics the next time I post!