It hardly seems two weeks since I last wrote a blog entry - despite the leisurely life style here the time seems to be really flying.
The weather has been really fantastic the last couple of weeks, without even one day of cloud or rain, just one small shower that was gone and forgotten within the hour.
I have visited Cusco quite a few times, sometimes in the afternoon just for a few hours. I tend to get my cash from a secure ATM in the main square (Plaza de Armas) these days where you cannot even get in without inserting your card. This is because on a recent visit to the main ATM in Urubamba, the guy in front of me got his cash and receipt but the machine kept his card. I would be devastated if that happened to me as I would be unable to get at my funds. Rather than take the risk I withdraw enough each weekend to tide me over until the following weekend.
Nohemy has taken me to another market further out than the main one here, which takes place twice a week where one can buy fruit and vegetables really cheaply. They also sell livestock and I love picking up the baby ducklings for a cuddle. I bought so much stuff last time that we didn´t bother going this week though. Now that I have my little kitchen up and running I love being able to invite musicians round and they love coming, knowing I am cooking something nice. They provide the beers and I provide the food and we listen to music via my iPod and Pedro´s speaker or sometimes one of them brings a dvd player and speakers so we can listen through that and they bring CDs - there is a band called Rata Blanca who sound so much like Uriah Heep that is is incredible - and one of them is going to copy it for me. Sometimes they bring instruments and have a jamming session and I really love that. Up until now I have bought about a dozen CDs - I bought a double album by a band called Expresion Inka in El Molino market before even realising that some of my musician friends are members of that band!
I have also been to the Tranca Fija a few times, a bar which the musicians love to hang out in. I have got to know the owner really well, a guy called Victor and his wife and children. He lets us put on our own music and doesn´t mind the musicians playing. We have had a couple of great sessions in there with someone playing a guitar and others singing, or listening to music from my iPod via Pedro´s speaker. Sunday before last we were invited there as it was Victor´s son´s 14th birthday and we were given food and were drinking rum and sprite all evening. A lovely fun evening and I woke up with quite a head on me next morning!
Whilst in Cusco midweek I got the first lot of photos downloaded to a CD and some have already been uploaded to the internet from where they can be seen on this blog, once I establish the link. This will be done within 24 hours and maybe within the hour if it doesn´t take me too long now. Another lot will be added to the photostream early next week.
This past weekend was a really brilliant one. I went to Calca fiesta in the early morning with Nohemy and Alfredo, a pleasant bus ride through the valley about 40 minutes away. There were hundreds of stalls selling artesania and I bought a beautiful alpaca waistcoat amongst other things. Nohemy and Alfredo attended the mass in the temple but I stayed outside so that I could see everything. There were bands parading by and dancers, a very colourful event. I stayed until 12.30 and then got a colectivo (shared taxi) back to Urubamba where one of the musicians met me at the terminal as we were going to Tunapa restaurant where Expression Inka play, because I love their music so much and the thought of seeing them live was irresistible, especially since finding out that two of the friends who visit are the main members of that band. A moto took us up into the hills far from the centre where we live and when I finally arrived I was really impressed. You could not find a more beautiful setting anywhere. We dined on the terrace and the band, Expresion Inka where playing in the open air and the sound was stupendously hauntingly beautiful. I was given a free pisco sour cocktail on arrival and ordered an enormous one to follow and really enjoyed the buffet lunch which was set out in four areas, with sushi and ceviches in one area, all types of salads and cold meats etc in another, lots of hot dishes - my favourites were Seco de Alpaca, a delicious fish called Perico which I will be looking for to buy, various pork and chicken dishes in sauces - and finally a long table with a choice of about 20 exotic desserts. Enjoying that lovely food whilst listening to that fantastic music was an experience never to be forgotten, looking down at the colourful gardens reached by a series of steps below until arriving at the river Vilcanota flowing swiftly past, with Pisonay trees on the shore - all set against the backdrop of mountains. There was an artist painting there who is also a friend of the musicians and women selling artesania, and I bought a beautiful cardigan from one of them. After the band had finished playing one of them accompanied me down the steps into the gardens and we took pictures, including some down by the river. It truly was a magical experience and one I hope to afford once a month hereonafter. Socrates and Jose were so pleased I had gone there as well.
Then about 5 pm I set off with Nohemy and Alfredo for a night in Cusco, having already arranged to meet up with musicians that evening. Around 9 pm I met up with Juan and Pablo and some others who recommended seeing a live band called Amaru Puma Kuntur at Illapa club. I thoroughly enjoyed that - one of the musicians with us was a congo drum player in the band. The rest of us sat sipping mojito cocktails and I adored the music which was a fusion of andean, rock and tribal music with unusual other instruments including one similar to a didgeridoo. In front of the band flames were burning brightly in a crucible along with lit candles and other offerings to Pachamama - all of this on a wooden floor, so yet another example of the lack of health and safety here!!! A young girl danced in front of the band and their show was excellent. When it finished at 1.30 am I continued on to Ukukus club with two of them, as it was Chano Puentes despedida celebration before he went back to England today - I know Chano from my visits to Edinburgh where his band, Apu, often perform, so it was fun to see him again. The club was heaving with people and the music being played was mostly progressive rock that I adore, and I danced practically non stop for the next four hours - the musicians love to dance so it was a highly entertaining evening, sharing a few beers as well, and I managed to get a few pics taken with Chano to show to Nohemy and Alfredo who know that family well. By the time I got back to Nohemys at almost 6 am it hardly seemed worth going to bed but I did and managed to get 4 hours sleep, waking up at 10 am.
We set off back to Urubamba at noon, transporting a mini fridge I had bought back earlier in the week. First by taxi to the carro stops, then paying for an extra seat so we could transport it to Urubamba in the carro and then transfer to a moto for the last part of the trip. Having a little fridge of my own in my little kitchen means that I won´t have to keep throwing things away. There is a fantastic variety of fruits available here for instance, sold by the kilo, and I am forever throwing fruit and vegetables away. Also I like to buy my spices in liquid form and these go off too if left for a few days.
We dropped off the fridge in the kitchen and then decided to go and have lunch but Nohemy couldn´t remember the name of the restaurant where we were going and gave vague directions to Alfredo who would follow in the next moto that came along. When we got to the restaurant and sat at tables outside we were wondering where Alfredo was and then Nohemy said he may have thought she meant another restaurant further down the road and sure enough, next minute she was laughing her head off as she could see him in the far distance walking back. We tucked into our bowls of soup whilst waiting for him and teased him on arrival. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours over lunch, sharing a litre bottle of coca cola to begin with and then a double size 600 ml bottle of Cusquena beer each and sitting in the warm sunshine having a laugh it was thoroughly enjoyable. We eventually got a moto back and then I went off out for the evening, as Socrates and Jose were having a drink in La Chinita cafe bar like last Sunday and had invited me to join them again. Quite a few other musicians were there and we had a fun evening sharing lots of beers with the bar owner putting on lots of andean cds and videos, and I danced a fair bit too until one of them accompanied me back about 10 pm. The bar owner is a lovely guy who likes to help the musicians who are always hungry and skint by cooking them lovely meals and he has taken me to his heart too and has offered to cook a really nice meal at his home, a hacienda in the countryside, and will get this organised within the next two or three weeks. Victor from Tranca Fija has also offered to do the same - he has a huge oven in the bar and one weekend we are going to cook a huge lechon (pork joint) in it along with tamales, rocoto relleno (meat stuffed chilli peppers) and get the musicians to play for us.
Well that seems to bring you up to date with what I have been doing here. I have been living in Urubamba for 6 weeks now and am falling more and more in love with the place with every day that passes. The fantastic climate has a lot to do with it, but in addition I love being with Nohemy and Alfredo who feel like family to me and treat me as if I were one of their own too. I love the fun times I spend with the musicians - the ones here in Urubamba and also several others who live and work in Cusco. I will probably write again in about 10 days.
