While walking around Cusco this morning I saw Angel, from yesterdays walking tour. He said hello and even remembered my name. Angel asked if I was going on his walking tour today, taking in different places to yesterday’s. It would been rude not to!
Today’s tour was more up in the hills around Cusco. I noticed that my breathing at altitude was getting a lot better. It’s easy to spot the newcomers to Cusco who tended to be panting at the back as a result of scaling even a modest hill. After having a look at the layout of the city from a good viewpoint we were onto a bus to take us up some really steep roads. Here we passed the Sacsayhuamán ruins, where we got a bit of a view over the fence without having to pay to get in. The highest point of the tour was at the statue of Jesus, which overlooks Cusco. It seems as though any worthwhile city in South America must have one of these. Although it looked tiny from down in the city centre, the sculpture is quite impressive close up. Also unlike it’s Rio counterpart, this one doesn’t attract the hoards of tourists taking their Jesus selfies or mimicking the Christ pose for a photo. On the way down we stopped off at a weaving workshop. Without wishing to be rude to the friendly person who showed us around, I’ve probably seen enough of these places to last a lifetime recently in Peru and Mexico. We finished up in the same bar as yesterday for another pisco sour. To be fair, this and the main square were the only parts where the two tours overlapped. Angel was good despite using the same jokes such as the one about Cusco being the most gay-friendly place, with the city’s flag resembling the rainbow symbol of the LGBT movement. Someone had to explain this one to a confused looking girl that Cusco was probably using this flag first!
I can’t remember if I’ve already mentioned that I keep bumping into the same people I’ve met in previous places. This isn’t entirely uncommon as most people tend to travel the archetypal Gringo Trail, usually visiting many of the same places. Today in a bar I saw two Dutch girls who were on the same sand dune buggy as me in Huacachina. I also saw them at Lake Titicaca. The standard joke in such circumstances is, “Stop following me!”
Despite it being evening I still fancied an all-day Irish breakfast in Paddy’s, supposedly the highest Irish bar in the world. This was the first time I’d experience this variety of cuisine in over four months and it was delicious.
Fear And Loathing In Easter Island 