Victory Hair

Is very wet after a rainy day at Machu Picchu.

Dancing!!

After making friends with the three slightly-past-middle-age Koreans I met on the bus, they invited me to dinner with them one night and to a dance show at the cultural center the next. It was an almost nonstop hour of fast paced music and dance, complete with informative introductions, audience participation, and bright, elaborate costumes. Here are some blurry pictures:

Things I learned on this occasion:

1. I must have one of these high-waisted full skirts with flirty petticoats, ahora.
2. Dancers have the best legs.
3. I find men attractive when they are able to dance well, even when they're dressed as fluffy, rainbow colored llamas with ornately decorated thigh-high leather boots. If there are any psychological implications to this, I don't want to know.

Kitten Cuddle Puddle

I'm melting!

Cusco: Some Photos

I'm loving Cusco so far: lovely stone-paved streets, colonial architecture mixed with Incan feats in stone fitting, and lots of delicious things to be eaten.

Roof repairs waiting to be done.

Lovely church at San Blas.

I love blue and beige together. Looks like there are lots of old places like this being refurbished.

More blue.

Carmen Alto, the lovely little street on which my hostel is situated.

The wall with the famed 12 cornered stone.

There it is!

View of an old Incan ceremonial site with colonial convent built on top.

The Longest Bus Ride

Ready to leave the bright lights and movie theaters of Lima behind, I cheerfully boarded my Cusco-bound bus at 5:30 in the afternoon this last Wednesday. What luck! The seat next to me would be empty until we reached Ica, a few hours away. I settled in for the 17-hour ride with a belly full of ceviche and a bag full of yarn to keep me entertained.

At Ica, an older gentleman got on and sat next to me, and he was apparently meeting two other people already on the bus. As they spoke across the aisles, I thought I heard some familiar words, but not in English or Spanish. I pulled out my headphones and lo! They were Koreans! Another sign of good things to come.

Fast forward to about 5am. In a haze of sleep I noticed the bus had stopped. I rolled over and forgot about it until about an hour later, when light began creeping in through the cracks in the curtains. We were still stopped. Odd. I lay there wondering what had gone wrong, and pretty soon people around me began wondering out loud the same thing. Eventually the bus attendant came over and said something to the passangers in front of me. All I caught were the words "closed," "open at 11," and "no food." Oh dear. Eventually enough people were awake and grumbling that she made an announcement to the whole bus. This time I caught that we weren't leaving until 11 and to go out and get food. After asking her to repeat herself a few more times I finally understood that the roads were closed for a car race, and after a breakfast of chicken soup I joined the rest of the town at the road to watch the racers go by.

People begin filling the sidewalks.

More people.

Here one comes!

Here it is!!

Oh, it's slowed down now to go over a speed bump.

All in all, it was another experience. It never got super thrilling as none of the cars passed at the same time, so the most entertaining thing for me was seeing which ones slowed for the speed bump and which ones simply kept going and caught some air over it. It ended slightly before 11 and we filed back on the bus for an uneventful rest of the ride.

My Korean seatmate, fast asleep after an exciting morning.

Two nights ago, I was having a cup of tea in a gringo cafe on the main plaza here in Cusco, when I heard the noises of car engines, crowds, and a brass band warming up. I looked out the window to see that the plaza had been taken over by the same car racers as before! Parked, this time, for some kind of show.

There they are.

People love them!

The PetroPeru balloon creatures have come out to play.

I don't think a celebration here in Peru would be complete without fireworks.

The Upside to Falling Down

When you buy rainbow colored fake Tom's shoes for $8, sometimes they don't have the best traction. And when you walk on centuries-old paving stones worn smooth and slick by millions of pairs of feet, you should be careful. I fell down today. I think I did it with a fair amount of grace and managed to walk away with just one tiny scrape on my knee. So I treated myself to a chocolate caliente. And it was muy rico.

Still working on the self portraiture.

Si, por favor!

Sunset on Lima