Wednesday, December 20, 2006
17/12 Crashed asleep in the plane to be woken by the hostee announcing 'seat backs upright, open blinds, etc'. I flipped up the blind in my half asleep state and was immediately startled fully awake by theincredible sight that met me. A huge range of snow covered mountains, soaring peaks, deep valleys and impossibly black ravines. The sun sparled off the snow and made the scene all the more incredible. All I needed was the Snow Queen to appear on one of the slopes and I would have known I was dreaming. Less than two minutes later we were decending over green pastures and red roof tiles into Cusco; nestled comfortably in this Andean range.
Found a taxi and bed and took advantage of the sunshine in the Plaza de Armas. It is only 7am.
The sun seems very high in the sky for the time of day. More like 10am...It is summer but maybe it is an effect of altitude...
Thawed out and watched the world pass by. A very busy Sunday in the Plaza. 100's of hawkers out trying to make up for yesterday's lost trade.
HINDSIGHT: More touts and street hawkers here than anywhere I've been in Peru. And more pushy. Thinking about it; I think Turkey and Egypt were more pushy in the markets but Cusco gets the points for street hawking.
You name, they're selling it and everyones got a story to tell. Had a hilarious time with a coupe of pre-teen girls who convinced me to buy some finger puppets from them. They were obviously learning the trade. They had done the deal and swapped money for goods. Then decided they hadn't done well enough and wanted more (their commission). When trying to wheedle it out of me from a 'trade' point of view they started whinging like kids can. I thought - I'm not giving up my seat in the sun to escape these girls - so I just started whinging back to them in the same tone ad facial expressions. Of course we all broke up laughing. Even the locals thought it was hilarious some gringa was playing their game back at them. They even tried to get me to buy them ice-cream and bananas for them instead of more cash. I agreed on the bananas but the banana lady wanted .8 sole for 2 when the going rate is .5 for two. The girls were incredulous I was such a tough gringa. I think they thought money is easy for us and we don't care that much about price. Anyway it was a good lesson for them, we all had fun and my haggling skills improved.
Being at altitude certainly burns quickly. My hands got burned even though it was quite cold and intermittently sunny. Hat, sunscreen, etal saved the rest of me.
Cusco is a very pretty place with a big fountain and beautiful gardens in the square. The square is surrounded by 2 spanish influence churches (1 a Cathedral) and many two story haciendas with timber verandahs upstairs and columned arches at ground level. There was a military parade of some sort going on with marching and flag raising; a group of Lions giving 100 or so poor kids a Christmas party; couples everywhere - even elderly couples enjoying the sun and entertainment.
Very tired. Took it easy and crashed early.
Funny sight - a dog lifting it's leg on a lit full size Christmas lama in the square (after dark). I had visions of the electricity arcing back to the dog and lighting him up too...
Found a taxi and bed and took advantage of the sunshine in the Plaza de Armas. It is only 7am.
The sun seems very high in the sky for the time of day. More like 10am...It is summer but maybe it is an effect of altitude...
Thawed out and watched the world pass by. A very busy Sunday in the Plaza. 100's of hawkers out trying to make up for yesterday's lost trade.
HINDSIGHT: More touts and street hawkers here than anywhere I've been in Peru. And more pushy. Thinking about it; I think Turkey and Egypt were more pushy in the markets but Cusco gets the points for street hawking.
You name, they're selling it and everyones got a story to tell. Had a hilarious time with a coupe of pre-teen girls who convinced me to buy some finger puppets from them. They were obviously learning the trade. They had done the deal and swapped money for goods. Then decided they hadn't done well enough and wanted more (their commission). When trying to wheedle it out of me from a 'trade' point of view they started whinging like kids can. I thought - I'm not giving up my seat in the sun to escape these girls - so I just started whinging back to them in the same tone ad facial expressions. Of course we all broke up laughing. Even the locals thought it was hilarious some gringa was playing their game back at them. They even tried to get me to buy them ice-cream and bananas for them instead of more cash. I agreed on the bananas but the banana lady wanted .8 sole for 2 when the going rate is .5 for two. The girls were incredulous I was such a tough gringa. I think they thought money is easy for us and we don't care that much about price. Anyway it was a good lesson for them, we all had fun and my haggling skills improved.
Being at altitude certainly burns quickly. My hands got burned even though it was quite cold and intermittently sunny. Hat, sunscreen, etal saved the rest of me.
Cusco is a very pretty place with a big fountain and beautiful gardens in the square. The square is surrounded by 2 spanish influence churches (1 a Cathedral) and many two story haciendas with timber verandahs upstairs and columned arches at ground level. There was a military parade of some sort going on with marching and flag raising; a group of Lions giving 100 or so poor kids a Christmas party; couples everywhere - even elderly couples enjoying the sun and entertainment.
Very tired. Took it easy and crashed early.
Funny sight - a dog lifting it's leg on a lit full size Christmas lama in the square (after dark). I had visions of the electricity arcing back to the dog and lighting him up too...
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 5:05 PM 
