Si El Norte Fuera Al Sur
I shouldn`t have to do this…
Basically, I can`t tell anybody not to read this journal. If you have found it and want to read it, go ahead. However, you have to REALIZE what you are reading. This is a journal intended for my friends. For anybody who reads this journal to find out all of the “bad” things I`ve been up to this year, FINE. But I find it fairly offensive to read this journal and then inform my parents, relatives, or other people in town about your findings. This journal exists largely because there are things that I would prefer not everybody knows, so please don`t make this into some ridiculous scandal or a fount of information to gossip about. Keep what you read to yourself!
At the moment I`m still in Cusco, but this evening I will be leaving for the city of Puno, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It should be an interesting place… The only unfortunate thing, from what I`ve heard, is that it is even colder there than Cusco. I will be going alone. Tanael, my Swiss friend, will be flying to Colombia later this week, so he has decided to stay in Cusco for the days leading up to the flight.
I`ve had a lot of fun in Cusco. We met loads of people, and we would run into different friends every day. Amoung our friends were hippies selling handicrafts, promotion guys working to bring people into restaurants around the main square, and people from Lima, as well as local Cuzquenos.
It quickly became easy to become comfortable in Cusco because of the friends, as well as a daily routine that began to develop. We would spend the mornings wandering around the city, eat a big, late lunch, then spend the early evening in the main plaza talking with friends. We then went to the hotel to relax and watch a movie, before going out dancing.
I ended up wandering around some interesting parts of city, including a huge indigenous market filled with natural medicines, local foods, and some handicrafts. As we walked through, a man entered carrying two cow heads in his hands. It was a very, colorful, interesting place, and completely empty of tourists. Another day I went with some friends to a Go-Kart park well away from the center, and this was lots of fun. It seemed like some sort of community gathering place for young people, and I was told that on weekends it can get very crowded.
One day, I was sitting in the plaza with Tanael, when we saw the most ridiculous situation begin to develop. The were two dogs, who started fucking wildly on some steps in front of one of the city`s main churches. They were jumping up and down, and barking franticly. Everyone who passed couldn`t help but stare and laugh, and these dogs were clearly having a great time, completely oblivious to being the center of attention. However, at some point the fucking got a bit two wild, and they tumbled down the stairs. They landed in an unfortunte position; they were stuck together, each facing a different direction. Some old women came by and tried to separate them, but it couldn`t be done. The dogs looked extremely sheepish, and now rather than laughing, those who passed looked genuinely disturbed. This is something that shouldn`t happen in nature, it seems. The dogs hobbled across the street, and through the plaza, stuck together still 10 minutes after the fall. It was not until a police officer through a watchstick at them quite hard that they finally pulled apart. It isn`t cool to laugh at animals in pain, but through the entire ordeal we couldn`t stop laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Though Cuzco is full of tourists, it seems that almost all of them stay in the historic center. Granted, this is the most interesting part of the city historically and architecturally, but it has become very artificial. On every corner is a handicrafts shop, and venders line the streets selling “traditional” goods. Outside of the center, however, is a very different, and surprisingly REAL city.
On Tuesday, I went to Machu Picchu. At about 6:30 a bus left Cuzco to the town of Ollantaytambo, where I borded a train to Aguas Calientes, and then a bus to the ruins themselves. Upon arrival, I was exhausted but utterly stunned by the spectacular mountain scenery and the ridiculously precarious location of the ruins. I left with a (spanish speaking) tour group, but after a half hour of the tour, the guide announced that anyone interested in climbing the mountain Wayna Picchu should leave immediately, as only 400 people are permitted on the mountain per day, and only before 1 pm. Only three of us among a group of 25 left for the mountain. Two spanish guys and I decided it was worth it, so we hurried to the entrance and began a quick ascent. Though they told us it would take about an hour and a half to reach the top, it took me only 25 minutes, despite long waits for the descending crowds. The climb was great, and the views from the top unbelievable. After a short time atop the mountain, we had to descend for a shortage of time. We spent a while afterwards wandering around the ruins before the descent once again to Aguas Calientes. With the Spaniards I ate a nice, big lunch, and then began the return trip to Cusco. It was a LONG day, but a really wonderful one.
I arrived in Cusco with bad cold, and it took several days before it went away. At first I felt incapable of doing almost anything besides chilling out much of the day. By the time I went to Machu Picchu, however, I was left with nothing more than a runny nose. This has persisted, but it no longer bothers me so much.
Until next time…
Lots of love,
Dan
P.S. Happy Mother`s Day to all of the mothers out there!
Tags: Travel
Neocoltrane