Does a baby trump a llama?

For reasons too boring to go into I've been reading a lot about marketing recently and one thing that's been impressed upon me is the importance of a unique selling point (or USP) for your product. What essentially makes your product better than everybody else's?

 

Nowhere is this clearer than on the streets of Cusco, Peru, a town whose main industry is tourism with flocks of tourists from all over the world using it as their jumping off point to Machu Picchu and beyond.

 

Amongst the locals there is a large indigenous population that sticks close to their traditions including wearing traditional dress, mainly involving brightly colored woven shawls and materials. Tourists of course love this and at some point in time the locals realised that they could ask for 1 sol (35cent) donation for each picture. But then you see market forces start to have an effect and before long there must have been many brightly dressed locals clamoring for the same tourist pictures. Enter the USP! I guess the first innovation was when someone brought a llama to 'work' and realised that the tourists loved this authentic taste of Peru in their photographs. Not wanting to be outdone, other photogenic locals then started to carry round their small cute kids. Does a cute kid beat a fully grown llama? Before long the capitalist culture is rife and Cusco is now filled with locals carrying kids, llamas, baby llamas, cute puppies or combinations of all 4. The trump card so far has been a tiny cute 2 year old girl, dressed authentically with a baby llama in one hand a green parrot on her head - needless to say she got all the tourist dollars that day!

 

I am a little divided about how I feel about this. On the one hand I feel that it's a little exploitative of the local population and does not treat them with the respect they deserve. On the other hand it's easy money, and if the tourists want to pay them more for wearing nice clothes and carrying a kids around than they would get from doing a much harder cleaning or cooking job then good luck to them. They've just got to work out how to stay ahead of the game....

Central Market Smoothielicious

We´re killing some time in Cusco until we can get our yellow fever jabs tomorrow and head onward to Bolivia. Yesterday we found the central market, which has just about anything you can imagine under one roof including rows of smoothie ladies! Heaven. We sidled up to a jolly fruit lady and watched as the threw a bunch of weird and wonderful fruits into a blender for us. We played it pretty safe, but really, they will throw anything in those machines. Delicious!

Lost in Translation?

We hope that is the case....

Machu Picchu

We're back in Cusco now after a great few days in the Sacred Valley and of course, at the holy grail itself, Machu Picchu. My stomach got its act together, we wound our way to the very picturesque Ollantaytambo and lodged there, catching the "backpacker" train to the town at the base of the Machu Picchu site, Aguas Calientes. Apart from some slightly chavvy thermal springs, the town boasts very little save for being the gateway to the site known (erroneously) as 'The Lost City of the Incas'.

We rose at 5 am and caught the bus up, up, up into the clouds, only for them to part for us as if on cue as we entered the site and feasted our eyes on this incredible wonder of the world. It really is true that no amount of pictures can do justice to this incredible Incan site: sweeping views of the surrounding valleys, the mountains plunging steeply into the Urubamba river on each side and, shrouded cloud and nestled in the middle of it all, an ancient city that mesmerisingly catches the sun as it rises over the mountains. I won't lie, it brought a tear to my eye. We stood in silence with a handful of other travellers and watched the sun rise and bathe us and the ruins in its golden light.

Machu Picchu, or 'Old Peak' was rediscovered in 1911 by Yale explorer Hiram Bingham and I like to imagine that we caught a glimpse of what he must have felt when he first layed eyes on it. (I wore my "East Village" tshirt, care of Jes, to represent NYC...) Not content with the usual postcard view of the site, we trundled off to climb the high, steep peak you see behind the site in all the classic postcards: Wayna Picchu, or 'Young Peak'. Looks steep doesn't it? Well we can testify that it certainly is! We huffed and puffed our way up and were rewarded as the sun slowly burned off the morning cloud and we got to see an incredible panoramic view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding valleys. We kept pinching ourselves, not only because we had been awake since 5 am, but because we could not believe we were actually there taking it all in. Its cliched, but Machu Picchu really was everything I would thought it be and more.

In a day or so we'll head down toward Bolivia to continue the next stage of our explorations. Word on the street is that these days they're charging Americans $100 at the border! Stupid politics. My stupid blue passport!! Bu for now we're back with "karaoke Eddie", mentioned in a previous post. It's all good.

Come along for the ride. We wish you were here...

Best travel buddy EVER!

Just wanted to give a shout out to Andy who not only is an awesome travel buddy because we both crave adventure and are just really in sync when we travel, but also because he´s my best buddy and he´s been doing a wonderful Florence Nightingale routine for the last 24 hours while I´ve been suffering with a nasty stomach bug. Total star. Thanks mate! So today, a day later than planned, we´re setting off for Ollantaytambo now that I have a slightly stronger stomach for the trip!

Cusco

High up here in the Andes mountains it seems like life back in New York never even existed. The stresses of running around on the subway seem to pale in comparison to the taxis and buses here that fly down Peruvian hillsides favoring their horns over their brakes. The huge wide expanses of Broadway and the Avenues with their 6 lanes of traffic seem a distant memory compared to the tiny streets and alleys of colonial Cusco where mini Japanese cars the size of the average American hot dog stand squeeze through while locals and tourists hug the walls either side to avoid being squashed. Incidentally the only car here apart from the mini Japanese ones are Volkswagon Beatles that apparently got shipped over here when they were too trashed for European use to act as the official taxis. Who knew?!

Cusco is set in the stunning surroundings of the Andes mountains, where ever you look there are huge green peaks towering in the distance tethering puffy clouds like large white zeppelins. This is one of the main Peru tourist hotspots where nearly everyone stops off on the way to Machu Picchu and therefore the population is a funny mix of locals in traditional dress selling wares and photos of them clutching Llamas and the ubiquitous white tourists clutching cameras, spending dollars and keeping the city ticking over. The city has embraced tourism wholeheartedly and while the buildings and architecture still looks authentically Peruvian behind most of the doors in the city center now are small bars and restaurants of every shape and taste. It's almost like having NY´s West Village with it´s buzz and variety transported directly into the Peruvian mountains.

There are still moments of genuine local culture though that remind you that you are indeed somewhere very special and different to our western homes. For the last two days the local police force has been holding marching competitions for all the local schools in the main square. As the chiefs of police all sit underneath the shadow of the Cathedral and the local army band plays rousing tunes, about 30 strong teams from the local schools march past in military formation holding white sticks symbolising swords and flags. Unfortunately the national ´march´involves kicking your feet up high in a way not too dissimilar to the German goose step leading to the odd sight of kids ranging from about 7 through to 14 seeming to be doing a shambolic reenactment of the Nuremberg rally. While the historical echos may be unfortunate it was though thoroughly heartwarming to see a community get so much joy and pride out of such a simple thing. To see the concentration on the kids faces and their desperate efforts not to let their school or friends down by losing time or rhythm was an awesome reminder how distant our home communities and kids have come from these Innocent times where personal image or fashion is´nt as important as the local community traditions.

Ready, set: ruins!

I finished my classes on Friday and am now truly feeling the freedom from my job and school, and I love it! Its great having Andy here to have adventures with (and translate for)...We feel very much in the swing of things here in Cusco so this weekend we set out to explore slightly further afield and see some of the impressive Incan ruins in the area.

Saturday we ventured to the ruins at Saqsawayman, which the gingos remember for the mnenomic "sexy woman" and which overlooks Cusco. Envisioned in the shape of a puma, the ruins include three rows of huge zigzag"teeth". Opposite are weird smooth rock formations that are not ony interesting for their historical significance,but make really incredible slides too! (Yes, that´s me above, about to smash my ankles because I have adrenaline issues.) The views of Cusco were amazing. We both keep pinching ourselves that we are really here, and I keep patting myself on the back that I can even remotely hold conversations with the locals.

Sunday started in a surreal fashion. As we sat bleary-eyed at breakfast, our extremely gregarious host, Eddie, started telling us about how the hostel dog, Fritz, can sing. Before we knew it, out of nowhere Eddie had switched on a karaoke machine in the corner of the room and began crooning away....and sure enough, Fritz joined in. I mean you really can´t make this stuff up. All we could do was stare at each other across the table in sheer wonder, thinking of our friend Kenenth :)

Later we hopped a local bus to Pisac to peruse the Sunday markets and see the VERY huge and amazing Incan ruins that cling precariously to the mountainsides that tower over the village. The hike through the ruins and back to town was truly spectacular, it felt like being in a Lord of the Rings film or something. The path takes you through various ruins, along precarious stairways dug out of the cliff faces, through tunnels and finally down into the valley. I´m not sure my hamstrings will be the same tomorrow, but it was worth it!

If we survive tomorrow morning´s karaoke session with Eddie, we are planning to head into the Valle Sagrada (Sacred Valley) to make our way to the holy grail of Peru. Stay tuned.

Travelling karma

Obviously I was owed some good travelling karma after all my exertions over the last week getting everything packed and cleaned while Millay lived it up in Peru. I whizzed through all my connections and flights without even a queue at security let alone a delay. Flying in to Cusco just after dawn over the Andes mountains was a spectacular reward for the previous 24 hours worth of travelling. The clouds we were flying above thinned to reveal the crinkled dramatic landscape of the Peruvian peaks below. Lower flying clouds clung to mountain peaks like lost cotton wool whilst the valleys looked like they were filled with the effects of discard dry ice. I´d forgotten how spectacular the Andes mountains are and how flat the rest of the world seems compared to them.

In typically odd South American style we were welcomed at the baggage collection at Cusco airport at 6.20am by a 5 piece traditional band standing next to the baggage belt playing through a loud PA system. Most people had been travelling for at least a day and many had been staying awake with me overnight at Lima airport and so unsurprisingly sales of their cd were low! After meeting a tired Millay outside we made our way through the streets of cusco in a typical taxi eg. small, falling apart and smelling like the exhaust pipe empties into the back seat. After living in Ecuador for 3 months when I was 18 it´s amazing how familiar all the streets, sights and smells all feel. I´ve even got some Spanish coming back to me and even though many of the locals in this tourist filled town speak English I appreciate their looks of pity as I try and order lunch whilst Millay hides her head in shame beside me. Luckily her Spanish is sounding awesome so all I´ve got to do now and avoid losing her and keep her healthy and we´ll be fine!

My turn....

The long goodbye is over and it’s finally time to strap on the backpack and head out to South America. There have been many times I’ve wondered over the last week whist I’ve been frantically packing, struggling with huge boxes up and down stairs and cleaning our apartment with the fervour of a medieval serving wench - where is my newly minted wife? Luckily I’ve been able to keep up to date with her fun and frolics in the beautiful city of Cusco and surrounding adventure sport spots via this blog as I on the other hand, in contrast, clean up our now desolate apartment and eat bad takeaway food because we don’t have any plates left. I forget now why this arrangement seemed like such a good idea at the time we agreed to it but needless to say it’s now definitely feeling good to be done with all the ‘things to do’ and head out for some fun and frolics of my own. 

I’ve just received an email from the Peruvian airline that I’m taking for the last leg of my trip that is entirely in Spanish which of course is complete gibberish to me (maybe that was why sending Millay to language school early seemed like such a good idea) I’m assuming it says “we’re looking forward to spiriting you away on our airline, we like you so much maybe you would like to fly first class?” and not “ha ha, now you are ours, we cancel all flights until February!”. We shall see….

Wet n Wild Weekend o´Fun

This weekend was a blast. A group of us from the house decided to go rafting on a section of the Urubamba river, set in a beautiful valley. After some strife from a random local police station on the way, we set off on our paddle adventure through beautiful scenery and a max of grade 4 rapids. So much fun! Afterward we soaked up the sun on the riverbank. And yes, we all ended up in the river by the end of the journey! (Yes i know those sunglasses are awful.)

Somehow i found the energy to join the rest of the house in a big night out on the town in Cusco after we returned from rafting. It kind of felt like I was back at uni or something, and I definitely haven´t danced that hard since the days of 638 East 14th Street! We started at a Peruvian club which featured a great live local band. We were basically the only gringos there and much to the amusement of the locals, who seemed to know to wear darker colours, we all literally glowed white under the uv lights! Or maybe it was our dancing they were laughing at....either way, a good time was had by all and it was a few clubs later that I finally crawled into bed.

Sunday I went with a girl from the house to visit the market at Pisac (above) , a town up in the sacred valley. The view from our collectivo bus was stunning and we passed a bunch of Incan ruins on the way. The market was huge and full of amazing weavings and stuff. We strolled through the stalls in the sun and had fun haggling with the locals for shiny things :)
(Does anyone think my writing style is going weird? I feel like I´m now forming my English sentences in the same stunted way I form my Spanish ones....hm.)

Week 2 of classes has started and Andy arrives on Wednesday! I can´t wait. Some of us were having a conversation about homesickness and I realized that I´ve been experiencing this weird nebulous kind of homesickness, the kind that comes with the realization that I don´t really have a home right now to be sick for...its kind of strange. I´m a little people-sick though, I miss you guys!

Hasta luego,

Cosas raros...

Some things here and strangely and delectably upside down.

- Yesterday as I was passing the intersection of where a road crosses the train tracks (there´s no safety barrier) , I saw that a train had arrived at the crossing at the same time as a line of cars. Guess who reversed: not the cars, no no. The whole TRAIN reversed back to allow the cars to pass.

- Today my lesson was interrupted by about 7 traditional parades all passing by our classroom window one after the other. Among the parades was a protest of a group demanding justice for the families of Peruvian terrorists. Not the victim´s families, no no: the actual families of the terrorists themselves. Apparently no group exists that lobbies for the victims...

- Pretty much every car here thinks its a taxi. We´re told to try to avoid fake taxis, which can be identified by their large "Taxi" stickers in the window....?!

- Yesterday while walking home from town I noticed a man dressed as a giant wedge of cheese standing on the median of the carriageway. He waved. As if that wasn´t amusing enough, I then passed an employee (presumably of the restaurant cheese-man was advertising) AND the restaurant security guard throwing handfuls of cold spaghetti over the cars and at the cheese-man. You really can´t make this stuff up...

Lay of the land

I´m starting to adjust to the rhythm of life here in Cusco. On the suface, this bustling city has a busyness and pace to it, when in reality everything still runs very much on Peruvian time and you can just as easily find yourself whiling away hours chatting to locals and travelers as zipping around on a whiteknuckle ride in one of the teensy taxis that think they are in a game of bumper cars.

My brain is saturated by so much new information and I feel like I´m getting a lot out of my lessons here at Maximo. Yesterday my private tutor and I had a great, hour-long conversation about poverty and public health and the differences that exist between our two countries. (Don´t get me wrong, I stumbled through but had the gist!) For all the education, medicine and government assistance that we have in the states, she was telling me that certain problems just don´t manifest themselves in the same way in Peru due to the strong sense of community that Peruvians have. When that gets lost, as it frequently can in our "developed" world, it creates so many avoidable evils. The conversation also made me reflect how much of my identity is woven into my choice of career, as well of course my passions, and how that affects the way in which I see myself and my role in the world.

On a more disgusting note, literally half of the people I´m staying with are deathly ill with something or another. Fingers crossed my bod will choose the high road! Besides, I´m whitewater rafting in the Urubamba this weekend and being ill just would not do :) I got up muy temprano this morning and booked me and Andy some tickets to go to Machu Picchu in a few weeks! Bring it on!

Faithfully and thus far healthily yours,
Millay

Cusco, Peru

Hola!

All I have to say about the previous post is you really had to be there. (Chloe you´re totally on my blacklist!)

Greetings from Cusco (above)! A you may have gathered, my travels went less than smoothly and involved among other things getting to know airports intimately and holeing up in a hooker-filled motel in Atlanta...

It was all worth it to see the incredibly stunning sight as we flew through the mountains and down into incredible Cusco. I´m in love with this city already; it is breathtaking in boths senses of the word! Steep cobbled streets give way to sweeping mountainsides, set against the brilliant blue sky. Everyone is very friendly and I feel more confident already with my Spanish.

I´m staying at the student and volunteer digs of my language school and it´s great; they make us incredible Peruvian-inspired food every day and everyone´s pretty chilled out. I´ve been adjusting to the crazy altitude by drinking my weight in Mate de Coca tea and in the meantime feeling like a lardass cos i get so tired so easily! I´ve had a few classes already and they make my brain hurt in the best possible way.

Tomorrow we´re gonna go get tickets to see Brazil vs Peru in soccer!! Can´t wait to see what craziness that brings. Hope all´s well on all sides of the ocean. I cant load up pics on this computer but I wish you all could see what I am seeing!

Abrazos,
Millay

Millay's Swan Song

So when Millay left Partnership for the Homeless she decided the best way to bid farewell to her co-workers was to choreograph an interpretive dance (inspired by the attached logo of a fellow homeless charity) that spelled out how much she'd miss them and all the paperwork she was leaving behind. Big thanks to Chloe for capturing the moment....

Now where is that darn jet plane?

So (in classic Vann family fashion) Millay's flight out to Peru isn't going exactly as planned. I'm sure she will fill you in on the details but the highlight so far was a game of Marco Polo with a non-existent guy named Doug for 3 hours at Atlanta Airport. Handily she managed to get everyone in the airport to join in with her which at least generated some community spirit, even if it was all in vain. Sure she'll blog about later this week :-)

Anyway, the latest seems to be that in all probability she's now probably made it through (with her baggage - a minor miracle!) leaving me to spend my last Sunday EVER at work. This is officially my last Sunday getting up at the crack of dawn in the cold whilst everybody else enjoys their well earned second day off of the week. While I'm going to really miss working for TSC, I'd be lying if I said the idea of having a 2 day weekend again wasn't exciting! Hmmm, and then there's the prospect of a proper english Sunday Lunch - thank God we'll be seeing my Grandma soon!!!

So 1 week left of bachelorhood (bad TV, baseball games & curries all planned) before meeting up with Spanish speaking Millay in Peru. If my jet plane turns up that is.....

Leaving on a jet plane

Well, its late and my bags are almost packed. By tomorrow night I'll be in Peru, which is kind of hard to wrap my head around especially in my frayed, sleep-deprived state. I've said so many bittersweet goodbyes over the last few weeks that now I feel spent and ready to make this happen. Today New York was chaotic and unforgiving and I'm looking forward to seeing it at what I think is its most beautiful: from a distance, receding as a big metal bird takes me toward new adventures. To use a phrase I picked up here: peace out.