Calca Market

There is no secret that I love markets. I honestly don't think there is a better, more public way of seeing a culture, all the food and customs out for display, the people gathered and slowly chatting and doing their day's work. Of course the fact that I'm surrounded by all sorts of food doesn't hurt either.

Before we started off our trek towards Machu Picchu, our tour guide picked us up bright and early, and was a little upset that we had him waiting 10 minutes while we lugged out our belongings sleepily and slowly to the car. It took us about an hour to get to Calca, my memory fails me with the exact specifics. Calca is a small town in the Calca province. We stopped to get some food and drinks and to orient ourselves before we began. We didn't see much of the town besides the market, that despite the early hour was pretty busy.

Growing up in a Spanish household, as well as my frequent visits to Galicia, have made me pretty accustomed to seeing fish with the head still attached, dead chickens with some sparing feathers, pigs feet, intestines, and most others animal parts and nasty bits that are meant to be consumed. It may not have phased me, but I could tell some of my companions were not feeling as at ease. It is important to pay attention, even if it makes you uneasy, because the items found in each market reflect the customs of a culture. It is really a question of resources. You use what is available for you.
A poor family will undoubtedly make sure to use all parts of whatever animals are available. It would be extremely wasteful to throw out anything if there was a chance to keep your family well fed. The traditions have held on throughout the years, hence why many cultures continue to cook with the same ingredients people have used for hundreds of years. Of course other factors, such as religion and wealth, also have a lot of influence in everyday cuisine. A vegetarian from Gujurat will have a much different diet than a Catholic from Kerala, for example. Nevertheless if you want an overall idea make your way over to the nearest, local market and you will see.
Warning, nasty bits are below. Scroll with caution.


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Making Conversation in Barrio San Blas

In order to reach the San Blas neighborhood you need to climb up the somewhat steep (or maybe it's just the altitude) San Blas hill. After passing lots of shops and artfully avoiding the cobblestone street, while balancing on the mini sidewalk made of stone, you will eventually reach a plaza. This my friends, is the San Blas neighborhood. The neighborhood offers spectacular views of the city, as well as its signature red tiled roofs, white washed houses, and blue doors.

In the plaza there are a few art galleries featuring Peruvian artists. The artwork is incredible, as well as incredibly priced. I would suggest buying a few pieces if you are able to bring them back with you.

On your way up to the plaza there are also tons of tourists shops where you can shop for some souvenirs.

San Blas is traditionally where many artists lived and like most neighborhoods of its kind, it is quickly becoming a trendy area of Cusco, undoubtedly attracting travelers who are more interested in this bohemian enclave. Expect less crowds than in the Plaza de Armas but there are more and more restaurants and cafes popping up.

The Church of San Blas is also in the plaza. There will most likely be people sitting at the steps as well as vendors outside trying to sell you some handicrafts.

San Blas is known for having these brilliant bright blue doors and windows.

It is surprising how the conversation can flow so naturally with complete strangers, in particular while traveling, where I have had the good fortune of encountering many interesting and congenial people. While snapping pictures in the plaza, and completely engrossed in my surroundings, I didn't notice that I had grabbed the attention of two men selling bracelets and other handicrafts along a white fence. Luis and his friend (whose name has slipped my mind at the moment) introduced themselves and in a matter of minutes it seemed like Luis had really warmed up to me. He told me about his family and his child and his love for his country but also his desire to move away. Soon the conversation led to what I missed most about home; without any hesitation I told him my dog Nico. He smirked and asked if I was talking about a boyfriend. His cacophony of laughter proved that he was making a machista joke about men liking the company of many women or something similar. Latin men never cease to amaze me and make me laugh, especially since he clearly was getting such amusement from it all. I assured him that my dog was in fact of the canine persuasion. Luis made me promise I would send him this picture (his friend was a bit camera shy). Si estas leyendo esto Luis, espero que estes bien!



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Just another Monday morning in Cusco

During the week Cusco is a completely different city than on the weekend where you will find mostly tourists roaming the streets looking for alpaca duds and pisco sours. What used to be bare streets were now packed with Peruvians following their daily routine of going to work, waiting for the bus, walking their kids to school, or snatching a part of the sidewalk where they will sell some food or handicrafts to strolling pedestrians. It was a nice change to not only be surrounded by tourists like myself, but rather a group of people who live in this city. They aren't stopping at every corner to bask at the sites, but rather they pass by the Plaza de Armas giving a cursory glance of recognition. After all they see it everyday. By being around locals you may perhaps be given a glimpse of how people really live their lives; if you're lucky.


Shoe shiners in Cusco


People waiting for the bus

Cusco is small and easy to manage, especially if you compare it to the capital Lima. The Plaza de Armas is the most distinctive image of Cusco city. Most travel paraphernalia plasters pictures of the plaza and the cathedral througout many of its pages. My second day in Cusco I was considerably less winded from the lack of oxygen in the air and made use of some time to myself to stroll the Plaza and sit at the steps of the Cathedral. My visit thus far had been filled with colonial influenced buildings and Catholic tradition. The Plaza de Armas was no different, however I knew that in a few days I would be looking out at a completely different marvel, one that had nothing to do with colonial influence. Machu Picchu, the lost civilization, would not have domed bell towers, ornate balconies, or elaborate Gothic paintings of the Resurrection. There would be no carved crosses or images of the Virgin Mary. Both cultures so different yet an indelible part of Peruvian culture.

Below is a map of the main sites in Cusco as well as some photos of what you should be looking for.


Map of sites in Cusco provided by Frommers.


Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus


Cathedral


Convento de la Merced


Iglesia de San Blas
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Plaza de Armas, Cusco Photo Journal

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The Fog In Lima

The typical tourist route in Peru is to head to Cusco after visiting Lima. Since we only had a little over a week in Peru we decided to do just that. We would spend a few days adjusting to the altitude, as well as enjoying the city. Every guidebook suggests staying a few days in Cusco before doing the trails to Machu Picchu. Please take there warnings seriously. I had an interesting bout of altitude sickness on the trail (more about that later).

Our flight to Cusco was delayed because of a dense fog that descended upon Lima. From what I know about Lima, and what I experienced on most days, is that it is common in the winter for Lima to be covered in fog, especially the closer you get to the water. As usual I'm not exactly looking forward to the flight and a delay just makes the anxiety of waiting that much worse. One of my friends caught me taking a quick nap at the airport.






















The flight into Cusco was beautiful. Since Cusco is in the midst of a bunch of mountain ranges, on our descent we passed a few snow capped mountain.



























































We saw a bunch of advertisements in the airport for oxishot, basically oxygen in a bottle. There was also an oxishot vendor on premises. We decided against buying the oxygen, thinking it was unnecessary, probably a little presumptuous of us. Actually in Cusco it pretty much was unnecessary, since we all didn't feel too many symptoms from the altitude, however on the Lares Trail I would have been a lot happier if I had one of these bad boys.


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Baaaaahh.... Playing With Animals In Cusco

Cusco, Peru















Yup that's me with a lamb!
My doctor told me to stay away from animals on my trip, you know the usual precautions, rabies, infection etc... But he was just so cute.



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Taxi and Huayno Peruano

Finally it was time to leave Lima and frankly I was a little sad. There is never enough time to see a whole city, however only a few days seemed like bad planning.

But alas we had to depart, so we hailed a cab and made our way to the airport, in order to catch our flight to Cusco. This taxi was the most high tech taxi we had seen in all of Lima. Whereas most cabs were old and shabby looking, this driver looked like he was trying out for MTV's Pimp My Taxi.

This innovative driver had a television screen with a connecting dvd player in his car. Don't overestimate however, it was nothing like the touchscreens now seen in NYC cabs, where you can play around in the back seat, although it did make for some interesting entertainment. The best part of the car was the telephone the driver pulled out from somewhere in the front seat. It wasn't a car phone no no, (that would be too obvious), it wasn't a cell phone (again obvious), but rather a land line telephone that he somehow got to work inside the cab. He explained it to us but I'm not one for technology chats.

He had DVDs for us to choose from, most of them music DVDs. He suggested we choose traditional Peruvian music, music he called huayno. Little did we know that this would be our first taste of the music we would soon be hearing all over. Huayno is very distinguishable and especially for those hearing it for the first time, it is most definitely an acquired taste. The vocals are extremely high pitched and accompanied by flute, harp, panpipe, guitar, charango, and mandolin. Below is a song by Stalim Manrique.


















Huayno Dancers
Photo by: Otra vez me hice Mujer

Huayno is very popular in Andean culture. You can hear it in the mountains of Peru, often transmitted by radio, since many of the people living there do not have televisions. The music may seem a little strange to travelers when they hear it, since the sound is very unique. After all the singing is high pitched and can seem a little off key, but the tradition has lasted for a very long time, since pre-Hispanic Peru. No doubt there is lots of emotion, often about love, love lost, unrequited love, you get the idea. One of the songs I heard in the cab was about a man whose lover drove him so crazy he resorted to alcohol. The lyrics were funny and although I don't remember them exactly they were something like "I love you so much that I must drink." I understand the sentiment but for me it usually involves Ben & Jerry's rather than Johnnie Walker.

In huayno, often times you will hear people in the background, children speaking, or people cheering the singer on.
"Que sigue bailando" Keep dancing.
"Ay mi corazoncito" Oh my heart.
I admit I don't listen to huayno much in the privacy of my own home, but take a look for yourself and experience the music from a very rich culture.

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Inka Lounge Hostel Lima

For my first night in Lima I stayed at Inka Lounge Hostel in Miraflores. The hostel arranged for someone to pick me up at the airport for $15, which is a very reasonable price for the 30 minute cab ride from the airport to Miraflores. In Lima it is customary to negotiate the price of the cab ride before you enter, since there are no meters in the cabs. Do not forget to handle that beforehand if you want to avoid headaches later on. My driver was holding up a sign with my name on it amongst what seemed like hundreds of people waiting in the crowd for their prospective customers. He was very friendly and chatty, especially with all his swine flu questions. Suddenly I was an authority on the matter because of my American passport (note to self - start using the Spanish one).


When we arrived, I was tired and frankly a bit delirious from the flight. I didn't have any soles to give the cab driver a tip, but later I felt less guilty when I found out that taxi drivers in Peru don't expect tips. Although my cab driver seemed a bit hesitant to say goodbye, so I'm assuming many Americans give tips anyhow. When I arrived there was a group of people sitting in the common area of the hostel watching a movie. If I wasn't so very much looking forward to the feeling of my face hitting something resembling a mattress I would have tried to meet some new people, but I decided to check in as quick as possible and make my way to my room. Clearly sleep trumps socializing when fighting the effects of a sleeping pill.

The guy at the front desk Edgar was extremely helpful, and if I do say so myself, rather good looking. Still the sleeping pill won over the urge to keep talking to a handsome stranger. When I got to my room it was clean and had two beds. Finally the moment I've been waiting for.

The Inka Lounge Hostel is located in Miraflores. As hostels are concerned it is pretty standard although I would recommend it to anyone. I stayed in the single room and it was quiet and comfortable and cheap, a perfect combination after a long flight.

The Inka Lounge Hostel Website
Rates
Shared Rooms $7 US
Single Room $12 US
Double Room $10.50 US

All rooms share bathrooms
All rooms are per person

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El Centro de Lima Photo Journal

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Miraflores Photo Journal

Miraflores was one of my favorite neighborhoods in Lima, primarily because of the vibrant colors of the buildings. Part of my travel experience is wandering around streets and neighborhoods and Miraflores makes it easy to appreciate. The flâneur will feel at home walking the quiet residential streets as well as the busy squares and center.

Lima proved to be a great city to start off my South America tour. I felt comfortable walking around on my own (during the day) and with friends at night. Miraflores is a safe neighborhood in Lima, therefore you should be cautious and avoid other neighborhoods at night (and even during the day). At my hostel one of the employees highlighted on a map which area I should avoid. You can ask your hostel or hotel to do the same. Below are some pictures of the Miraflores neighborhood.

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