Cusco is a magical city. Nestled about 3 500 metres above sea level, it combines old with new; narrow cobbled streets, ancient architecture and mostly friendly Peruvians. For all its quaintness, there are a lot of exceptionally poor Peruvians, who eak a living out of begging. Children are taught to beg from an early age and it is common to see kids as young as four peddling goods on the streets. 
On the eve of Christmas, Cusco's main square is a crazy site. A huge market is held on the 24th and 25th and villagers, who normally stay up in the mountain, spend the night on the streets in hope of securing the best spot to sell their wares.
The market, which sells goods for next to nothing prices, is a sight to be seen. Skinned Guinea Pig, beautiful hand woven bags, exquisite jewellery are some of the items on sale. I spoilt myself with a gorgeous pair of earrings that cost a grand total of R6.
Casa de la Gringa, the hostel where we have been staying for the past four nights is owned and run by a South African, new age hippy called Lesley, who has angel wings tattooed on her back and must be in her 50’s. A chain smoker and cat lover, Lesley also owns a restaurant called Mandela’s in Cusco’s main square. This is where we celebrated Christmas Eve with a group of matriculants, who are travelling around South America as part of a school tour. We had a festive and fun evening, even though the food was served two hours late and was freezing cold.
Lesley is an avid promoter of the San Pedro cactus plant, which is known for its “incredible healing powers”. For $60 a pop, it is offered to those who need to get in touch with their emotional being through a journey that lasts about eight hours. Nikki and I decided to give the journey a miss and spent our time and money on delicious warm food and red wine at Jack’s restaurant instead – a much safer bet.
Casa de la Gringa is a lovely spot, which is relatively clean and well maintained. We are sharing a double room for a about R70 each a night. I’m staying in the top bunk and am woken every morning by the sun streaming through a skylight, which is strategically placed right above my bed.
The group of matriculants, that we met up with by chance, are staying in the same hostel. They are a sweet bunch, relatively well behaved and for most of them, it was their first Christmas away from home, so they were all feeling a bit miserable on Christmas Day and getting a bit nervous about their results, which come out on the 28th.
Casa de la Gringa, the hostel where we have been staying for the past four nights is owned and run by a South African, new age hippy called Lesley, who has angel wings tattooed on her back and must be in her 50’s. A chain smoker and cat lover, Lesley also owns a restaurant called Mandela’s in Cusco’s main square. This is where we celebrated Christmas Eve with a group of matriculants, who are travelling around South America as part of a school tour. We had a festive and fun evening, even though the food was served two hours late and was freezing cold.
Lesley is an avid promoter of the San Pedro cactus plant, which is known for its “incredible healing powers”. For $60 a pop, it is offered to those who need to get in touch with their emotional being through a journey that lasts about eight hours. Nikki and I decided to give the journey a miss and spent our time and money on delicious warm food and red wine at Jack’s restaurant instead – a much safer bet.
Casa de la Gringa is a lovely spot, which is relatively clean and well maintained. We are sharing a double room for a about R70 each a night. I’m staying in the top bunk and am woken every morning by the sun streaming through a skylight, which is strategically placed right above my bed.
The group of matriculants, that we met up with by chance, are staying in the same hostel. They are a sweet bunch, relatively well behaved and for most of them, it was their first Christmas away from home, so they were all feeling a bit miserable on Christmas Day and getting a bit nervous about their results, which come out on the 28th.
Together with their teacher, Lionel, they headed out to the jungle earlier this morning and will be back in time for the New Year’s party in Cusco – a trance party. Couldn’t think of anything worse and super glad I’ll be in La Paz, if my visa comes through, but they seem to be getting excited about it.
Christmas Eve is the most important event in Peru and after dinner, we went off to a club called Down Town for a bit of a salsa shake up. The club had organised a collection box for the street kids, who had spent the night sleeping in the square and Nikki and I momentarily considered getting up at 5am on Christmas Day to hand out warm food and drinks. We ended up donating money instead, a more sensible and realistic option.
Christmas Day was a lazy day, spent napping and eating and then napping and eating some more. A rather pleasant day actually.
We depart for Puno tomorrow, where hopefully the visa issue will be sorted out and we can make our way through to Lake Titicaca and La Paz as soon as possible.
Christmas Eve is the most important event in Peru and after dinner, we went off to a club called Down Town for a bit of a salsa shake up. The club had organised a collection box for the street kids, who had spent the night sleeping in the square and Nikki and I momentarily considered getting up at 5am on Christmas Day to hand out warm food and drinks. We ended up donating money instead, a more sensible and realistic option.
Christmas Day was a lazy day, spent napping and eating and then napping and eating some more. A rather pleasant day actually.
We depart for Puno tomorrow, where hopefully the visa issue will be sorted out and we can make our way through to Lake Titicaca and La Paz as soon as possible.
