La Fiesta de Cusco

Our current hostel is a few blocks away from the Plaza de Armas, a giant plaza in the center of Cusco's historic/tourist district. In our couple of days' experience in Cusco, the Plaza is home to an apparently permanent collection of locals circling the square on foot, selling woolen hats, watercolor paintings of llamas, and intricately carved gourds, among other souvenirs, as well as an ever-changing cast of tourists who make up their customer base. Additionally, we've seen several marches and parades, usually with an announcer on a loudspeaker offering a running commentary in the kind of overly-emphatic announcer voice familiar from monster truck commercials or Nuevo Mundo futbol programs. I listened hard for a few minutes and heard a few sentences about "our beautiful, historic Cusco", and then decided I could safely reserve my powers of concentration for something more interesting.

This morning, after a quick breakfast in our hostel kitchen, we strolled over to the Plaza to see if anything special was going on today, and indeed, encountered more parading and announcing. It didn't seem any different from the previous few days' parades, so we left after a few minutes and tended to some business. Yesterday, we picked up a classified ads pamphlet called "La Rueda de Negocios", recommended by the tourist office as a good place to look for rooms for rent. This morning, we called our first choice listing, got an appointment to visit, and after visiting and discussing details we've now secured a room in a family house, with internet and private bath, for the next 3 weeks. We're looking forward to moving our clothes out of our packs and into a dresser, and being able to spend some half-days playing poker and programming from the comfort of our new home.

In between our phone call and our viewing appointment, we had a little over an hour, which we decided would do well for lunch. We set out to return to an Indian restaurant that we'd seen a bit off the Plaza yesterday, advertising a full array of our favorite vegetarian curries at a good price. On our way, we found that the Plaza de Armas was now totally inundated by paraders and viewers, and that we had to manuever a bit carefully to get across the Plaza and back to the restaurant without stepping on anyone's toes, getting stepped on ourselves, or getting separated. We made it, though, and enjoyed a fantastic lunch on a balcony overlooking the parade as it worked its way up Avenida El Sol towards the Plaza. The parade consisted of groups of dancers and of musicians, all with unique costumes for each group (mostly based on the colorful woven patterns familiar from pictures of Andean people). Many of the dance groups were marching behind signs for all kinds of organizations -- Andean farming collectives, the Cusco hospital, the National Organization of Journalists, a language school in Cusco (with lots of foreigners dancing). There was a seemingly endless stream of these troupes, and it was great fun watching them all from the restaurant's balcony.

The restaurant's friendly, English-speaking owner let us know that times were tough for her restaurant, and that she hoped we could spread the word if we liked it. So: next time you're in Cusco, in the first block of Avenida El Sol, on the right as you walk away from the Plaza, you'll find a galeria (a sort of mini-mall) with a wooden signboard. The Indian restaurant is there, on the second floor, and it's delicious and welcoming!

This afternoon we were ready to test out our high-altitude athletic abilities, and so we went on a walk up out of the city center past Sacsayhuaman (an Incan fortress or ceremonial spot whose 3 fortifying walls still stand), and "El Cristo Blanco" (a large statue of Jesus, whose illuminated figure is easily visible from the city center at night). The walk uphill was a little tough for both of us, but not too bad -- we're looking forward to doing that walk every day in an effort to toughen ourselves up for the longer hikes we're hoping to take later. From the top of the hills, we had a fantastic view of the center of Cusco, and could see (and hear!) parades still happening in the Plaza de Armas.

After we descended from the hill (at about 5:00p, an hour or so before sunset), we found that the parade had turned into an all-our street party. The costumed troupes who'd finished their turn parading were now enjoying themselves dancing to the musicians' music in the streets, drinking beer being sold by the glass by various individuals with handcarts full of beer crates, and eating hamburgers, grilled meats, french fries, and other street foods being sold from street stands, card tables, and other improvised stalls. We spent the next few hours winding our way around the very crowded streets surrounding the Plaza, enjoying the music and happy atmosphere, and trying out some of the food on offer. We had "Sandwish Vegeteriano" from the hamburger stand, which turned out to be a delicious concoction of grilled lettuce, onions, and tomatoes, grilled salty local cheese, and ketchup, mustard, and mayo, on a hamburger bun. We also had a plate of rice with french fries, a fried egg, and fresh tomato salsa. Then we approached a lady selling some steaming, pale beverage out of a giant pot -- she was one of many popular stands in this business. We asked her what it was, and learned that it was a juice or refreshment made of "aba", which is apparently a local cousin of corn. We enjoyed our first few sips, and then accepted her advice that we let her add some "whiskey" made of sugar cane (a hot pink liquor that she kept in a reused water bottle). I monitored her closely to make sure we only got a tiny dash of that unknown liquor, and indeed, the little splash rounded out the taste of the sweet corn drink and made it much tastier. After finishing our drink, and a little more strolling, we headed back to our hostel, tired and happy.