Wow....a hang over at such a high elevation is not the best feeling in the world....two cups of coca tea, and hopefully I will be feeling better soon! I wrote most of this this morning at 9am and then found out that check out time was 9am!!!! WTF kind of place has a check out time of 9am....especially the day after new years eve!
Yesterday when we arrived in Cuzco off the 11hr overnight bus, we realized that our camera was also stolen.....extreme dissappointment ensued. However, we were sooooo lucky, because just the day before our memory card was full, so we bought a new one...so most of the photos are safe! But again a pain in the expensive ass to walk around the city in search of a new one. During our explorations we enjoyed the feel and vibe of Cuzco...its a beautiful city. Much more touristy than anywhere else we have been on this trip, which is kind of nice because it just feels more clean.
We were able to get a room at yet another dive hostal...we had to ask for a heater because apparenly no one heats their flippen buildings here...but no bugs (at least to the visible eye! hahah). We finally found a new camera, after eating a nice lunch...I think we will have lots of luck with good food here. We walked around a bit more and stopped to talk to one of the young ladies offering massages. Now normally I wouldnt even THINK about getting a massage in some foreign country from some girl on the street... BUT my boss did it in the summer and said it was awesome! So Ivan and I haggled the price down to about 10 dollars each for an hour massage.
The gal swiftly walked us down the streets and through a souvenier shop, to the back to a hidden door with long curtains. It was 100% dodgy...but kind of exciting just the same. The flyers that they hand out for the massages are lovely, clean, spa type photos....not exactly what reality handed us. Ivan said it looked like a scene from the show MASH....it was hilarious....two rickety beds beside one another as we were having the ¨couples¨treatment! We stripped down to our skivvies hopped onto the creaking beds and shared a giggle. They put a little heater on and set the mood with soft music....popular artists such as Celene Dion, Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson all on the windpipes....a real Zamfir special. They rubbed us down for just over an hour....my massage was great, but Ivans was pretty weak. I think my girl got bored half way through and got her friend to finish, because I could see through the little peep hole in the bed and saw these little white tennis shoes....then later on they were brown boots....it was pretty funny! we will probably go again after the Inca Trail hike.
That night we walked around the street market, and took in all of the wonderful energy of New Years Even in Cuzco....we snacked on freshed baked apple fritter type treats and enjoyed the vibe...that is until some kid kind of shoved me on one side, and lucky it was cold out so my nipples were a little hard and I felt someone on my other side unzip my breast jacket pocket where our NEW camera was....I caught him just in time and grabbed my boob...I was awe struck...those sneaky little shits. If I wasn´t so shocked I would have liked to have given him a good smack upside the head. But lesson learned...we now carry nothing with us.
We walked around for hours and the scene was AMAZING....like nothing I have ever experienced before. Everyone was buying fireworks and whistles and masks and streamers in bright yellow...which is the Peruvian color for good luck. We were lucky enough to get a seat on the balcony of a place called Nortons Rat...a fun English type pub...it was the best seat in the place overlooking the beautiful main city square. We sipped on Sangria and watched the pure manic chaos below....I can see why fireworks are not legal in Canada because they were going off every two seconds in every which way...one burning chunk even landed right in front of Ivan...there was a band playing, and people hugging and shouting....there was no ¨count down¨like usual, but the extreme celebrations continued for a good hour until it really started raining. We still haddnt eaten dinner so being pleasantly drunk enough to be brave, Ivan ran down to the sqaure to grab us some street meat... lama and potato kababs which were awesome!!!!
I think this was probably one of my favorite New Years Eves ever....just so exciting, vibrant and wonderful...and the best thing is, there didn´t appear to be any dangers or fights...and today, in our hung over state, we strolled by the square to find it very serene and peaceful and totally clean...like the evening before was but a dream.
We are going to relax tonight and grab some dinner, as our new GAP tour begins once again tomorrow, and then we start the Inca Trail hike.....yikes! I am both nervous and excited....probably wont be able to keep you posted for a while (dad dont worry we are great!). Happy Happy New Year to you all...Enjoy!
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