Finally...some air!

On my 3rd day in Cuzco, I finally felt more like myself. I woke up early and walked around the town. This time, I actually saw the town. I walked to the traditional market and WOW, they have everything under the sun there. The market is so different as compared to anything we have at home. The only thing I can think of that comes close is the San Jose/Berryessa flea market although I am not sure if it still exists. I was trying not to be the obvious tourist with my camera out snapping pictures, but I did get a picture of the butcher hacking away at a huge pig - bacon anyone? Most of the vendors of fruits, veggies, flowers, baskets and such are Peruvian woman with a very distinct look. They are very round, robust ladies with long braids and very indiginous features. One thing that I was thrilled with was the "sewing" section. They still make clothes by hand using the footpedal sewing machines. My grandmother had one in her house when I was growing up. I hadn´t seen one in years! So much for technology.

I grabbed lunch at a small cafe. The food is cheap here if you stay off the main drag. I was served a large bowl of soup, potatoe salad, spaghetti and tea for a whopping $2. Sometimes, the combination of food you get is a little weird but it´s pretty good nonetheless.

In hind sight, I am glad that I didn´t go to Puno or Lake Titicaca. I was feeing so bad when I got here that I never would have enjoyed it and would have had to leave right when I was starting to feel better. Also, there had been some blockades on the roads and several tourist buses were stranded because local people were striking/protesting several government issues. I believe a couple issues were the privitization of the water companies and taxes that are imposed on businesses. From what I gather, there is a lot of corruption in goverment here and this was a way for the people to try and be heard.

That afternoon, Cristian and I decided to go on the city tour. We were on the bus and he decided he didn´t want to go because it was raining and I think he was suffering from a bit of altitude sickness. I think he wanted me to not go too, but I knew this was my only day to go on the tour so, I stayed on the bus. Bu bye to Cristian.

We visited 4 local Inca ruin sites - Sacsayhuamán (pronounced Sexy Woman), Q´engo, Tombomachay and PucaPucara. It was freezing and rained most of the tour, but I felt like I had been such a dud for 2 days that I wanted to get out there and sightsee.

That night, I went salsa dancing with Luis, a local guy I met. OK, now this has happended to me before...HOW can someone born and raised here, listening to this music 24/7, claim to know how to dance and they can´t dance? It was almost embarrasing. I escaped to dance with someone else who actually could dance and this became and issue so, I left. Not a good night out dancing but interesting to hear some different types of music - kind of like cumbia but with a more indigenous beat.