Have I died and gone to heaven? It feels like it, I am so ecstatically happy to be in Cusco, my favourite place in the whole world! This is our third night in Cusco and we have enjoyed so much incredible live music. When we left the internet cafe the other day,Layla and I popped back to our room to add more clothes - it is amazing how it cools down at night here. From warm sunny t-shirt weather it goes really cold at night, so cold that wearing socks and a warm alpaca jacket to bed is necessary if one is to get any sleep.
We went to Patiti´s but the band weren´t there.We walked around the Plaza de Armas as there are loads of restaurants, and entered one called Pachacutec, a very posh one where a live band were playing. They were really good and I ended up buying the CD they were selling. Unfortunately the orange juice I had ordered was really sharp and made me feel a bit queasy so I left Layla to finish her drink and said I would pop back to our hotel briefly until I felt better, it being only a 5 minute walk away. I was hurrying up Plateros and came to a skidding half when I heard another live andean band playing in Chez Maggy restaurant, was peering through the window and listening when the boss came to the door and ushered me in saying it was too cold to stand outside. As you can see I made a remarkable recovery! I lingered briefly, debating whether the band would still be playing if I dashed back and got Layla, and when I voiced this concern to the boss he said a new lot of customers had just arrived so the band would be playing on and to fetch my friend.
I dashed back down the road in time to see Layla coming up and she was thrilled when I told her about the other band and we hurried back and as we went in they were playing one of her favourite songs and she went straight into dancing to it.We thoroughly enjoyed their show, me especially as they played 2 or 3 songs that are on the first andean CD I ever bought. Afterwards the panpipe player Carlos came over and chatted for a while and was telling us about a good place outside Cusco where we could see ancient inca ruins and aqueducts (although it is highly unlikely we will have time to go there because our time here in Cusco is filling up fast with so many exciting things.When the band left we said we would come and see them again the following evening. At 10 pm we met Juan just below the restaurant on the corner of Plaza de Armas and we walked around the corner to Kami Kasi club where I always go at night when in Cusco. By going in early we had a table right in front of the stage, ordered a jug of sangria and the three of us were dancing to the rock music being played, including a couple of Simple Minds tracks, my favourite band until I first heard andean music. (For those of you who do not know, I first heard this music in September 1999 and my life changed dramatically from that moment - one only has to read my writings from 2000 to the present to see just how much! 2004 onwards on this website, earlier stuff including 2 trips to Peru and lots of photos at my other website http://users.bathspa.ac.uk/amaa1
The band that came on to play were called Illapa, a group of quite young musicians, and they played brilliantly, incredibly so for such young musicians, and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. We left immediately afterwards though because the live folkloric show each evening is followed by very loud disco music into the small hours - not our scene at all! One other thing to mention is how well Layla and Juan hit it off. I told Layla 3 years ago that I knew a musician in Cusco who would be perfect for her - I had told Juan the same thing. So you can imagine my delight at their reaction to each other. Just that first evening they were already falling in love.
Wednesday morning I wanted to take my other memory card to get it downloaded to a DVD, this one containing 400 Galapagos photos. I had a 20 minute wait while it was being done so decided to sit on one of the benches in the Plaza facing the way to our hotel, so that Layla would see me when she rejoined me about 10 minutes later. Whilst waiting I suddenly recognised a couple hurrying past and called out his name ¨Fernando¨! You could have knocked him over with a feather when he looked round and saw me sitting there. He hurried over and gave me a big hug, and so did his wife, and they asked where I was staying and said they would look for me there. Then Layla arrived, we collected my dvd and memory card and we set off exploring all the little shops around the Plaza. After a while we noticed a nice little coffee shop with balconies called Capuccino and went up there for a coffee. In fact we had to wait a while for one of the balcony tables, cute little balconies just big enough to hold two chairs and a mini table. Once we got one we lingered there for a couple of hours chilling out after the hectic day before. We had hot chocolate with whipped cream a couple of times and then decided to have lunch there as the menu was good.Whilst enjoying this it was lovely to watch everyone in the Plaza which is really beautiful with a huge fountain in the middle, beautiful gardens with flowers, loads of benches for people to sit on. We took quite a few photos. Suddenly Layla noticed a band going into a restaurant next door and we downed our drinks quickly and went down, entering the restaurant as the band were sorting out their instruments. We sat at a table right where they were about to play, ordered drinks, and thoroughly enjoyed their show ... unfortunately as we had found whilst searching live music earlier, the bands don´t play for long and often by the time our drinks arrive the band are packing up to go. We got a bit fed up with this after a while!
After this we set off to find the Institute of Culture which is where one goes to buy tickets for the Machu Picchu sanctuary. We got there much later as we were side-tracked so many tmes by other things we saw. We bought the two tickets for us which worked out around 42 dollars each, deciding to get Juan´s later as being a national he could get his half price but only upon presention of his identity card. After this we loitered in shops and a bit later in a phone booth shop we phoned Juan to ask him to meet us at Institute of Culture before it closed at 4.15 so we could get his ticket and this we did. Whilst still in the phone shop I decided to ring Colin and he was really surprised to hear from me as my communications with him until now have always been by email. Phoning home from Peru was surprisingly much less than I thought it would be and I intend to ring him again in a few days or certainly the day after we get back from Machu Picchu. Later we found our way to Conceptur, the bus company that sells tickets to get up and down the mountain upon which Machu Picchu is situated. We bought three tickets at 14 dollars each. So are all set now, with the hotel booked and paid for, the train tickets reserved and paid for, the Machu Picchu entry tickets and the bus up the mountain tickets. We are all really looking forward to it. We travel by train on Sunday 24th, leaving Cusco at 06.50 am, and will spend all day in the sanctuary on the 25th from dawn until dusk.
After this we visited the artesania hall of shops at Wanchaq and I bought a silver pendant of a condor. Then we went to Rumillajta - another hall of artesania shops - this time to visit Lydia who had left a message at the hotel for me that morning. She was delighted to see me and meet Layla and we stayed chatting a while and I said I would call and see her again the following day. I was delighted to meet their little daughter Sebastia, who is just over a year old. When I was in Cusco three and a half years ago they were still grieving badly over the loss of their first child.
In the evening we went back to Chez Maggy again and had a nice meal there, with jars of chicha morada, a non alcoholic drink that we all love, which is made from purple corn. I have hardly had anything alcoholic since being in Peru except sangria now and again. There are so many wonderful juices and other things like chicha morada that one has to enjoy them while one can. We do have the odd pisco sour though. The band played two shows while we were there and in between, the panpipe players, Carlos and Larry, chatted to us. I bought their CD - the band are called Tusuy - and they all signed the cover for me. Afterwards we went to Kami Kase again, sitting near the front again, and enjoyed the music of a brilliant band called Yawar Inti who mostly played their own compositions and I would have bought the CD afterwards had it not been the same one that I had bought at Pachacutec! Yawar Inti were playing a brilliant song near the end which I hope is on that CD. Unfortunately I won´t know until I get home because I have nothing to play it on.
On Thursday we went to a nice posh restaurant for breakfast which were offering full english breakfasts and it was pretty good, although not as good as back home. Then we went to Gringo Bills office in Cusco to see about booking a single room for Juan in the same hotel near Machu Picchu so that we can all be together. We were lucky they could accommodate us, they in fact offered us a triple room for the first night, retaining the double we already paid for, plus a single for the second two nights. After this as we were not too far from Rumillajta, we popped in to see Lydia again and she asked both Layla and me to be the god parents of her daughter at the christening which is being arranged for the day after we return from Machu Picchu, 28th August.
Our next stop was to find Teatro Garcilaso to make enquiries about a fantastic show we have heard about. We got side tracked many times on our way to it - there is so much to see in Cusco and not enough days to see them in! I bought some new shoes as well because my sandals are falling apart and I discarded a pair of shoes early in the trip to cut luggage down. I didnt fancy dancing in hiking boots, hence buying a really elegant pair of high heeled leather sandals. Layla went on ahead to Garcilaso Theatre whilst I was trying on shoes and I went to catch her up 5 minutes later. I asked directions and was directed to a different theatre, the Municipal one, but this wasn´t a total waste of time. Without that slip up I would never have known about the fantastic folkloric concert being put on there that night. At Garcilaso we were able to put a reservation on three great seats right at the front for this coming Saturday, saying we would be back at 6.30 to pay for them - we phoned Juan asking him to meet us there then (our seats were costing 58 soles each but as a Cusco resident Juan´s only cost 15 soles - upon presentation of his identity card.
After buying the tickets we walked back to Municipal theatre and were early enough to get three central seats in the front row. The show started just after 7 pm and was completely free as part of a week of folkloric and other culture with events going on all over Cusco. The first band to come on were Illapa who we´d seen at Kami Kase on our first evening, but this time a bigger band and they gave us an hour of the most magical music which we all enjoyed immensely, including Juan, who was really impressed at their coordination. After this the curtain fell, and 10 minutes later a second band came on called Wayra Manta and they were really good too, playing alot of Bolivian music as well as Peruvian. They did a medley of about 8 Savia Andina songs which was especially impressive. Both bands are new ones in Cusco, only being on the musical scene a couple of years. One of them said that Cusco was a great place to be, a great supporter of anything to do with the arts.
At the end the compere announced there would be another similar evening of music and dances from all over Peru ... unfortunately this coming Saturday night so we will miss it, having just bought the tickets for the show at Garcilaso. The show we are going to see is a Kusikay production (which we saw advertised in Lan´s airline magazine) and is called ¨Chaska: An Andean Story, an extravaganza of music, dance, poetry, circus and multi media and is sure to be brilliant. I will write more about that next week.
After we left the theatre we hurried back to Chez Maggy as I wanted to see the band Tusuy again, knowing we probably won´t see them again until our last night in Cusco. I was walking so fast that Layla and Juan could hardly keep up with me and was in such a hurry to get in there when we reached the restaurant that I almost walked past the musicians who were outside!!! Inside we got a great table in front of the stage and shared a pizza and jar of chicha morada whilst watching their show. After that we decided to give Kami Kase a miss as we had to get up early this morning.
A Magical Day in the Sacred Valley
We were up really early this morning as Juan was coming at 8 am for us. We managed to get ready and still have over an hour in order to get some breakfast before Juan arrived .... except that all the restaurants and cafes in Plateros were still closed! Even in Plaza de Armas everything seemed closed until one of the sellers directed us to one that was open. We were so pleased we gave him enough soles to go and get a breakfast himself somewhere! The breakfast was the best yet, the best coffee since Trujillo. Back at the hotel, Juan arrived, and then we were in a taxi and on our way to the bus company that goes to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley by the Chinchero route. Juan had wanted us to go in normal more comfortable buses but I said it was much more interesting on the buses all the Peruvians and campesinos use, so he phoned his friend Jorge to meet us there instead. At this bus company the buses fill up with people then go, and a new bus moves forward, fills up and then goes and so on all day. There is always a crowd so never long to wait.
Soon we were on a bus, the four of us sitting together, and on our way out of the city. It took two hours to get to Urubamba driving through pretty andean villages and observing the andean countryside way of life ... villages called Poray, Cachimayo, Chinchero, Rachi, Watata, Cruzpata, La Laguna de Huaypo, Santa Ana, Ramal and finally Urubamba. Descending the circular mountain road to the valley floor was beautiful, with bright blue sky against snow capped mountains and the town set out in the valley below. We passed some awesome scenery on the journey too.
Arriving in Urubamba, Jorge deposited his instruments in the restaurant where he works and then we set off walking, took photos in the Plaza de Armas which is very pretty with palm trees and pretty gardens and seating to relax in. There was even a man walking an ostrich so people could have their picture taken with it. Then we were walking through the market which was very interesting. Then we went in two moto taxis to a pretty park to relax for a while. It was fun getting into those little moto taxis which are like a carriage that seats two, with a driver, the engine being a motorbike or something similar. In the park were two of the most ancient trees in the Sacred Valley called Pisonay. Those trees were there in inca times. Near the park was the house once owned by Tupac Yupanqui, son of Pachacutec, one of the incas.
About noon we caught a micro bus to the restaurant where Jorge works and we sat under parasols in the garden for an hour or so enjoying a beer or two. The weather in Urubamba is really hot and is like that most of the year round. Jorge warned me to use repellent though as there are alot of mosquitos there even in the daytime. The restaurant were waiting for a tour bus to arrive from Cusco, and there was a huge buffet laid on for them. Layla and I treated Juan and Jorge to have the buffet lunch with us, choosing a table right where Jorge would play, and then the tour bus full of people arrived and Jorge was playing his music which was lovely. After the tour group had gone Juan got up and joined him on charango and Layla and I danced to a few songs which was fun. We bought Jorge´s CD as well, as he let us both have it at a very reasonable price. Afterwards we went back to the market for a while and Juan and Layla are relaxing in the park while I finish off this episode started yesterday. We will probably catch the last bus back to Cusco which leaves around 7.30 and maybe even take in some more live music once back there. I sure am going to miss all this beautiful live music when I am back home once more!
Tomorrow Saturday we plan to chill out and relax a bit more, cancelling our plan to go to Sacsaywaman because Juan cannot join us until 2 pm, as he works for the band Inti Llacta in the mornings at the airport. This would not give us long enough to really enjoy Sacsaywaman and get back and get changed and be at Garcilaso theatre by 7. So a nice relaxing day tomorrow and that marvellous show in the evening.
Then it is to Machu Picchu on Sunday, returning Wednesday night, the christening on Thursday afternoon and evening and Puno on Friday for 3 days. Juan wants Layla to see Puno and I would be happy to see the Huj Maya band again and maybe my friend Javi who lives there. So the three of us will set off for Puno on Friday and return Sunday. After that we will have one last day and night in Cusco and then it will be time to leave. We are all dreading that moment.
So my next email might be written from Aguas Calientes, after we have been to Machu Picchu, as that might be the only chance to write before the end of this month.
