I am writing again on Tueday, nearly a week after my arrival and I must say, I am really loving being here, staying with Alfredo and Nohemy who are really kind, and Urubamba is such a delightful place, down in a valley surrounded by mountains some of which are snow capped and the weather here is warm and sunny all the year round. The rainy season won´t start until November and I imagine by then I will have a real sun tan to be proud of!
Carlos, Lidia and the children are only a 3 minute walk away and I am dividing my time between being with them and being with Nohemy and Alfredo. Yesterday for instance was really leisurely. For breakfast we had fried plantains with the delicious wheat bread rolls typical from here and they were still warm from the oven of the nearby bakery. This with the fantastic ground coffee from Quillabamba which I adore and still have a supply of it back home I brought so much of it back last year. Then a large glass of lucuma flavoured yoghurt drink - this because I am too afraid to drink the milk which is sold direct from the cow - you go and buy it and they are still milking the cow and then give you the milk. It is rich and creamy because the cows are really fat here, but isn´t pasteurised and I am too afraid of contracting Krones disease to risk drinking it, even though the Peruvians do boil it first.
After breakfast I went round with Nohemy as she wanted to check on some of her other properties and one of them is a delightful little house which is divided up for several tenants, all around a central courtyard with stairs going up and a verandah all the way round on the first floor. On the ground floor is a room which isn´t used by the tenants and I have decided to rent this from Nohemy so that I can entertain some of my friends there which isnt something I can do in their own abode. It is only big enough for a cooker, a table to prepare food on and another small table and chairs set which they are going to lend me along with pots and pans, plates and cutlery. It is only 10 quid a month. I will probably use it a couple of times a week and cook a meal in the daytime and then we can eat on the patio outside in the sunshine and the musicians can play for us, or Pedro can bring along his portable speaker and we can attach it to my iPod. This is my plan anyway so that I can repay some of the hospitality as I have already eaten twice in Carlos and Lidia´s house and it would be fun to invite Nohemy and Alfredo over for a meal as well, in their own property for an al fresco meal. They are dying for me to cook something English.
After lunch yesterday which was a delicious chopped chicken breast in a slightly spiced sauce over spaghetti, I walked down to Plaza de Armas which is the centre of town and has tall palm trees and other beautiful trees and shrubs and profusions of flowers with seating areas for people to relax and meet up. I took my book with me but didn´t get beyond the first page. First a young girl with her baby struck up conversation and I was enjoying that and then along came Miguel, an elderly gentleman I got to know last year and he was so delighted to see me again that he sat down and chatted for about an hour. All of this sitting in warm sunshine was really pleasant.
Later I decided to walk to the restaurant where Carlos plays to hear a bit of live music and got really lost on the way. I ended up walking three times as far and met up with another young girl befriended last year - Jessica - and had a chat with her. Gradually getting to know people is really fun. After listening to Carlos for a couple of hours we went back to his house as Lidia´s Mum had arrived from Quillabamba and was dying to meet the foreign lady who is going to be godmother to the two children. Before that, when I tried to pay for the drinks I had consumed in the restaurant the owner wouldn´t hear of it and said today was free for me. I thought this very kind and indicates that he doesn´t mind me going there regularly and just having a drink or two rather than eat the buffet.
Back at the house I enjoyed another meal with them followed by coca tea, and watched a film which although English was dubbed in Spanish so a bit hard to follow in places. Then at 7 pm I went back to the house for a very early night as we were all getting up at 4 am today to get an early carro to Cusco which is where we are now.
We arrived into Cusco about 6 am after just an hour and a quarter as the roads were empty at that time of day - went straight to the house in Cusco and I spent an hour sorting out my two suitcases, filling one with things to bring to Urubamba and leaving the other one to collect sometime later. Then after breakfast and a hot shower we set off into town. The hot shower there was because having got up at 3.30 intending to have a shower before going to Cusco, it was only to find there was no water. I had forgotten that water is only available at certain times and at night there is none at all.
Our main reason for coming to Cusco was for me to open a bank account but what a time wasting exercise that proved to be. We went to Interbank first but they said that opening an account was impossible with only one photographic document, that two were required. My passport on its own wasn´t good enough and they couldnt understand why we didnt have identity cards in the UK. Next we went to Banco de credito and tried there but were told the only way to overcome having only one document with photo was to go to the immigration office and get some kind of document from them. A long walk later we did this and took all the necessary back to the bank and it still wasnt good enough for them. So Alfredo opened a separate account in his own name and then gave me the card so that I could draw money out. I then paid in a good part of the money I had brought with me so that it is in a safe place and I can just draw on it as I need it. There is an ATM in Urubamba of this bank which is useful.
Being with Nohemy and Alfredo is such fun, for instance in one of the taxis we took this morning - they said not to pay more than two and a half soles for the journey and we got in a small one, were just putting on our seatbelts and the driver pulling away when he said three and a half soles. Next minute we found ourselves getting out and I was in such hysterics of laughter and so were they and we fell about laughing. The next taxi that came along was a big comfortable one and only cost two and a half!
I treated them to a nice lunch after all the trekking about trying to get an account in my own name. We enjoyed delicious Adobo de Chancho, a spicy pork dish which is cooked in the local chicha brew. Also today I changed the simm card in my phone which only cost 15 soles, 3 quid, and put 30 soles of credit on it which was doubled to 60 so I should be okay for a while. I have to use the free 30 in 10 days but the 30 paid for will last until October if I want it to. The phone company is called Moviestar and is Spanish.
We are back at the house in Cusco now and will head back to the bus station in about an hour or so. It has to be bus as there is no room in a carro for a large suitacase, plus we all bought things in Cusco in the market today. I bought my first CD which sounded great when I got them to play a couple of tracks for me. At 4 soles, 80p it was a bargain and others are to be had for as little as 50p.
Tomorrow is one of the market days in Urubamba so we will probably go round that. I will probably buy the necessary in order to cook dinner for them tomorrow as I stocked up on most of my spices here in Cusco today. On Thursday there is a big fiesta all day in the open air at Pisac which are going to as well so the next few days look really fun.
Well I think that is all for now and I have to head back to the house anyway in case they are ready to leave. I havent actually been to any of the touristic areas of Cusco yet but will probably do so next week. It is so easy to get here by carro that I can easily come on my own. Will write more either at the weekend or early next week.
