Cuzco - First Tastes

Well it has to be said, I got screwed with the bus ticket to Cuzco... I bought it through the travel agent chap at the hotel thinking that it would be worth paying a little more for the ease of not having to go back to the bus station that afternoon. It turned out that the 25 I paid was almost double of the 13 that the ticket actually cost. A lesson to be learned I guess.

Arriving in Cuzco some 6 hours later was certainly a great relief as the bus was full of Peruvian school kids with smell feet and no doubt lack of showers for several days which was pretty darn unpleasant. I had met an Aussie couple on the bus so I joined them in a taxi to the central plaza, from where we would look at the Point Hostel, which they had been recommended by a friend. We first stopped in at a burger joint, for the Aussies to get something to eat and for me to experience just how much more expensive Cuzco is, after all, it is the tourist capital of Peru (and perhaps South America). It was obvious that one could not even walk 50m without be hassled by tourist touts etc, selling everything from Maachu Pichu tours, massages and free drinks at bars!

The Point Hostel turned out to be pretty darn awesome. Rather expensive at 25 soles but a great location. The three of us checked in their and I headed out to get some lunch that was not horrific burger joint prices, finding something for less than half the price.

That evening was a great introduction to the nightlife of Cuzco. After a few drinks in the hostel bar a group of us headed into the main square to face all the bar touts trying to get us into their venue. It actually worked out pretty well, bar hopping to several places, dancing on the bar, drinking lots of booze and not paying a cent the entire night. With free drinks vouchers thrust in one´s face every time one leaves one bar, it is easy enough to just keep on moving around drinking all night! The Aussie chap got totally smashed and we found him standing in a alley way looking in total despair! When asked what the problem was he admitted he had given 100soles to some random guy (not sure whey he did that....) and the chap had legged it. We tried not to laugh too much but it was pretty darn funny!

The next day I bumped into my french pal max in the square and headed up to the Christo statute and ruins called sexywomen (but spelt in a different way haha). Pretty awesome views of the city and surrounding areas. Cuzco is actually in a pretty rural area set amongst the hillsides. We found a cheap lunch places near my hostel and then made plans to meet up later that evening for a meal.

I had a low key afternoon, feeling a bit crook. I had to pay the rest of my tour cost so found a bank and took out USD to fix that up. All done, I found an awesome chicken joint, for only 650 soles (like 325nz) i had quarter of a chicken, soup, salad and chips...amazing deal! I enjoyed it plenty cause I was so hungry from a light lunch..despite the fact I had dinner with max in a few hours.

Dinner was awesome, a fabulous Italian place for 10soles with superb service, nice decor and excellent food. Probably one of the best value meals I have had, all things considered. We then found a bar, one which had been thrust in our face a little earlier, to have a cairprioska and a good yarn, before deciding to head to the Up Town club to kick off a night of partying. I only had my jeans and jandals on as I had not intended to go out, but once ending up at the Up Town Bar things changed, and max and I got stuck into some dancing. Max was pretty enthusiastic about having a big night and it rubbed off on me, which was great. After heading to Mama Africa's for a few hours of drinking and carrying on, I decided to pull the pin at around 230, so as not to aggravate my cold.

The next day I woke feeling pretty crap and didn´t really even venture a block past the hostel all day. I spent several hours trying to get the dvd player to work but with shitty scratched dvs and no remote it was impossible! I did some reading and really nothing much else. I got hammered by a Swiss guy in chess and had a meal of popcorn for dinner haha.

Today I felt a little better. After a nice long lunch and a movie on cable I headed out to lunch with a couple of chaps. They warned me in advance that the place was run by a crazy gay chap who was pretty wild. From the moment we sat down we were in for a bit of a shock. They guy came out of the kitchen licking his fingers and making wanking gestures towards us. He walked up to one of the guys thrusting his wet fingers in the chaps face saying ´have smell, my special smell´ and all sorts of rude comments. He kept massaging and poking the guy and later us and saying menu items were small or big like our cocks and calling us ´pommy bitch´ or ´kiwi bitch´ and all sorts of stuff. Pretty funny. When the guys got their fruit salad with condensed milk on it they couldn´t bear to eat it given they thought it was the chefs special sauce, and the crazy guy didn´t try to dissuade them of that idea, making licking and wanking gestures again.
I would have enjoyed the meal if the bill did not include an orange juice for 7soles (which I thought was included) where most places only charge 2 or 3, and I have been to places where only 1.50. Oh well, had to pay it.

Time to get ready for the Inca trail tomorrow! Bags to pack and colds to get over!