I had a great night's sleep... catching up from the early mornings. The shower was hot and I was ready to face the day.

I went down the hill and immediately noticed the Sunday hush that hangs over most towns in South America. Even Cusco, where I thought tourism would operate on a 24/7 schedule, seems to quieten down on Sunday.

I found the agency to book my bus ticket open though, and tomorrow I am off to Nazca, a 14 hour journey, but overnight. And I'll be back at sea level! I will feel so fit!

I had soup and pie, then read my book on the small plaza just off the Plaza de Armas. I was joined by an older man, who spoke in a soft voice and told me he lived in Cusco, near the airport, about 7 km from the centre. He was 70 years old and had no 'plata' -literally silver- for food. My Spanish was too limited to question him about the pension situation in Peru, but from the look of him, it can't have been good.

Although I saw the question coming, I talked to him for a bit. He was very pleasant, subdued, a kind of timid granddad. I liked him and felt none of the annoyance I have felt the last few days about the sellers and beggars. His name, he said, was Leonidas.

Leonidas is a Spartan hero, who fought an army of Perians and was betrayed by a farmer. In an attempt amounting to suicide, his army kept fighting until there was no one left. I wondered if Leonidas' parents knew that when they named him, just like I wondered when I met Ovidio in Isla del Sol if he knew he was named after the great poet, who famously wrote to 'carpe diem', seize the day. Perhaps the children's names books people use around here are really old ones?

Leonidas said my Spanish was really good, and that I should start thinking about learning Quechua. A big dog passed and he asked what 'perro' was in my language. He said it was 'alqo' in Quechua. We also talked about how they changed all the names of the streets in Cusco to a Quechua name.

He got up to leave, and at his request I gave him some money. I went to Cafe Bagdad for a drink because it was looking like it might rain again and sure enough, it started pouring down soon after.

I went to the internet cafe and completely forgot the time, it was dark when I got out. Had some dinner and went to pack, sa check out time is at ten tomorrow.