Cusco

On another note, something I've really been wanting to write about lately is the bizarre and somewhat distressing relationship between tourists and Cusco locals. Now, I understand that we probably get a bit frustrating...we're all over Cusco, not knowing Spanish and filling up tables in the restaurants and confusedly walking in front of taxis saying "The map says such and such attraction is this way!" But for the most part, I don't think we mean anyone any harm. Not only that, but we provide Cusco with 85% of its income...Cusco NEEDS tourism. And many tourists come to Cusco to volunteer as well as sight-see...most of the tourists I have met have genuinely wanted to helped the Cusquenians...we DO have more money and we DO have more resources, and unlike many people who just sit in the states waiting for interest to accumulate in their trust funds, we actually go out into the world and distribute our money! And so many volunteers want to connect with the locals and form genuine friendships. However, (and this does not go for all Peruvians, or even Cusquenians, but does apply to the majority I have met) so many of the locals here are just out to rip us tourists off. It's impossible to sit in the Plaza de Armas without having about fifteen locals coming up to you in a 20 minute period asking you if they can sell you fingerpuppet dolls or a hat with llamas on it or shine your shoes. I always say, "No, gracias" as politely as possible, but they are so persistant...often they won't go away unless you yell (which I did once and it made me feel like shit) or completely ignore them, either of which is very rude. I don't like feeling like a rude person! I don't want to be a rude person! But I feel like I have to be. And then they feel justified in treating me like a bitchy tourist. It's a vicious cycle. A few days ago, Amy and I had some guy walk up to us on the street. He said something we couldn't understand and then smacked Amy on her wrist. Before either of us could react, he came up to me and hit me on my shoulder. And these were not gentle hits...these were I'm-trying-to-inflict-pain And then he just made a disgusted face and walked away! I have no idea what to think about this. The only thing that separated us from the other people on the street (and there were lots of other people) was that we were white.

Another example...last night Amy and I caught a taxi to take us to the bus station, a ride that should not have been more than 5 soles. Usually when you catch a cab, you negotiate with the driver before you get in, and only once you two have agreed on a price do you accept the ride. Amy hailed the cab and asked "How many soles?" but instead of giving her an answer, he hopped out of the cab and took our backpacks and made small talk until we were in the cab...then he said "Ten soles." Amy and I said no because we knew the price was too high, but he repeated "Ten" and we were already in the cab. I was so mad and so tired of feeling like I was being ripped off all the time (this is after we almost got robbed a couple weekends ago...I'll tell that story later), so once the cab got to the bus station and the man gave us our bags back, I only gave him 6 soles. He looked at me confusedly and I said, "That's all I have." He said it was our fault, and I felt bad so I dug around in my pocket and found him another sol and repeated that that was all I had. He knew I was lying. I knew I was lying. But I didn't budge...he was trying to rip us off, and I wasn't going to let him. I shouldn't have even given him 7...the ride was worth 4 or 5. But I left the situation feeling like the bad guy. I wanted to yell at him and demand to know if he thought I was stupid, but I didn't. It's clear that he did...or he thought I was too passive to fight with him. I don't like having to fight. *sigh* Anyway, people keep telling me that things will be better now that I'm out of Cusco...I guess we'll see? Gotta go, more later.

written by  kfox on July 6, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru Adventure!
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Also, on the bus ride from Arequipa to Paracas, I found out what exactly Cruz del Sur does when you are in need of something besides their "Urine Only" bathrooms. What happens is that they tell you you will need to wait for an hour and a half until they can pull over at a random Cruz del Sur terminal somewhere in the middle of the mountains. You sit in extreme discomfort watching the classic (or not) comedy The Hot Chick which has been dubbed over in Spanish so that you can kind of only understand its already IQ-lowering plot. Finally, after 90 minutes of clenching, the bus sputters to a stop and you are told that you can finally go meet your non-"Urine Only" needs. You Spring from the bus to the terminal, which a cleaning lady has to unlock for you because it is 10:30 PM. Finally, you duck into the not-so-clean-but-in-this-case-you-will-make-an-exception bathroom stalls, glad that you had enough foresight to put toilet paper into your pockets before Springing from the bus. And then you get to go...until you hear the bus roaring away two minutes in. But you cannot move from where you are. Upon finishing, you leave the bathroom to find the cleaning lady pointing down the street at your bus, which is parked much further away then it was when you left it. You sprint to the bus because the engine is on and you already heard it drive away once. Once back on the bus, your girlfriend informs you that the bus did indeed leave without you and it wasnt until the attendent came up to her and said "Wheres your friend?" that Amy realized I was not on the moving bus and told the attendent, who promptly and panickedly called the driver and told him to stop. The bus then backed up 500 feet and parked in the place where I found it five minutes later. Perhaps next time, until Cruz del Sur improves its non-"Urine Only" policies, I will continue clenching.

written by  kfox on July 11, 2010 from Huacachina, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru Adventure!
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"Candleabra" carved into the sand in Paracas by an unknown source

The next day, Wednesday, Sarit left to go on a tour of the nearby Colca Canyon, leaving Amy and I to wander about Arequipa by ourselves before catching our 7 pm bus to Paracas. We went to the Museo de la Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria, where we saw Juanita, the ice princess. Juanita is a 500 year old body (she´s more of a frozen body than a mummy) who, when she was alive, was sacrificed by the Incas to appease the gods of the nearby volcanos. She was around 13 years old, and according to the museum tour, she was led to the top of the volcano by Incan shamans, where she was given chicha (corn beer) as a sedative and then struck in the head, thereby ending her life. Apparently this happened more than once...I believe 14 similar bodies of child sacrifices have been found scattered throughout the Andes. The children were usually royalty from Cusco and being sacrificed was an honor reserved for the most beautiful of these royal children--the more beautiful they were, the more they would please the gods, and being chosen for such a task was a privilege because dying for the gods would in a way secure a position for these chilldren among the gods. The Incas would do this every El Nino season...the changes in the weather from El Nino would cause an influx of a certain type of orange shell to wash up on the beaches of Peru, and every time this influx occured, the shamans thought the volcano would erupt and kill their people unless a child was sacrificed. Therefore, 500 years ago in Peru, El Nino meant you had to kill a kid...makes El Nino years in the US seem less extreme, eh?

So that same night, Amy and I got on another 14 hour nightbus from Arequipa to Paracas...if anyone wants to know how that journey went, they should consult the entry before this one...I am still cringing from the experience, haha. We arrived in Paracas the next morning and were so relieved to find a quiet little beach town that smelled strongly of ocean and where the vendors did not attack us with offers as we walked by. We stayed in a new hostel for cheap because parts of it were still under construction...however, our room was very nice and had a private bathroom with HOT WATER...I almost died of glee. Amy and I went on a long aimless walk down the beachfront lined with newly constructed and still empty beachhouses that look like they were craned straight over from southern California...we collected bright orange and purple seashells and Amy pawed at the sand looking for the perfect conch shell...it was very pleasant. On Thursday, we took a morning tour of the Islas Ballestas, also known as the Poor Man´s Galapagos...these islands were COVERED with birds, including humboldt penguins, which were so cute! Amy and I took lots of pictures. Apparently the guano (aka shit) from these tens of thousands of birds is harvested every five years to sell as fertilizer...people take shovels out to the islands and scrape away at the guano for 2 months. Exciting job, eh? We also saw the mysterious figure carved into a sandy hillside on the way out to these islands...resembling a candleabra, the figure was carved into the sand and has never been erased because the wind does not hit that side of the hill. No one knows how old it is...the primary theory is that it is from the Paracas culture, a pre-Incan people who worshipped a cactus with hallucinogenic properties...this cactus could be mistaken for a candleabra, I suppose. Anyway, my hour is almost up, so that´s all for today...more later.

written by  kfox on July 13, 2010 from Lima, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru Adventure!
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