Post trekking relaxation

After our trek we decided that we weren't in any hurry to move on from Cusco. This was firstly due to us not being able to face a long bus ride just yet, next because we didn't really know where we were going to head to and lastly because we actually just really liked the vibe of Cusco. That's what in love about not having a set itinerary to stick to, you can just stay somewhere you like longer if you decide to.

We arranged with our trekking friends to meet the next day at Paddy's to watch the second game of the football and enjoy some day drinking together. We did just that and then reserved ourselves a table at Nuna Raymi for dinner so some of the others could try out the local Peruvian dish of guinea pig. 

The Inti Raymi festivities were still going on out in the main square so between games we were able to catch some of them. The part I enjoyed the most about the whole thing was being able to see all the different traditional costumes, some of which were quite scary looking!

Interestingly there are some costumes that include white masks with big noses and then they wear western clothes and walk along pretending to swig out of bottles of beer. As part of the parade they then grab the Peruvian women and throw them over their shoulder as they kick around trying to escape. We deduced that this must be a depiction of the Spanish when they invaded which was an interesting subtle dig at the Spanish. I mean hey, they did conquer their country and all so it's understandable that they want to take a dog at them but something that we have noticed quite a bit of over here is a definite undertone of racism toward non Peruvians. Examples have been when we went to the hot pools in the Colca Canyon and without realizing Jimmy went in the "locals only" pool so was promptly told to vacate. Another example was when we considered buying LAN flights to go from Cusco to Lima and when shown the prices the $97 were flights were for Peruvians only and we would instead have to pay the more expensive price of $150 instead. Also park entry fees have been considerably cheaper for locals, usually about 75% cheaper. I get that the Peruvian wage is likely to be significantly lower than the average westerners and so they are probably catering to that in those instances but the one that I found the most bizzare (along with the hot pool) was when we were walking up the Main Street of Cusco and saw this lovely park with the following sign.

Now just imagine if in NZ we started putting signs up saying that tourists were prohibited in certain places. The uproar would be huge! Anyway, just a little interesting insight into the culture over here.

The next cultural difference is as I mentioned earlier, eating guinea pig. Five out of our group of ten ordered it for their dinner (both Jimmy and I gave it a miss). Before the real thing came out, the waitress brought out a display plate and told us it was for us to photograph. So of course we did..

I was pretty repulsed by the thing and couldn't wait for it to be taken away, the whole while it was there I was having flashbacks of my two guinea pigs I'd had as a kid. Thankfully the real meal was a lot less in your face but the concencous around the table was that it was ok, but very bony and tasted like gamey chicken. My crispy skinned trout on the other hand was divine!

The next day was the real deal of Inti Raymi which ended up just meaning a whole lot more of the same parades but with about 1000x more people crammed into the main square. We retreated to pubs around the square so we could watch from the safety of the balcony without there being the risk of being pick pocketed (we had been told to watch our pockets as we had tried to push our way through the crowds earlier).

After a last dinner at Indigo with Danielle and Brett (the Australian couple), and a last lunch at Green Point (an amazing vegan restaurant for the menu of the day which includes a huge amount of food, all for 10 soles - about $4) with Danielle, Brett, Rebecca and Peter (the English & Scottish couple), it was time to bid farewell to them all and head on our way to our next stop, Lima. We had decided to go there rather than Huacachina as originally planned as most had said Huacachina was fun only for sandboarding which we had already done and Jimmy was keen to hit the coast ASAP in search of some waves. 

Our lovely host at Home Sweet Home gave us a hug and sent us on our way, wishing us well for our travels.

Cusco had certainly felt like home for the last 10 days but with time running out on our trip we have to keep on moving.