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!

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.

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!