 |
 |
||
Main | Journal: Cuzco (again!) | ||
 |
Cuzco, Peru -- Again Wednesday, June 23 Damas y Caballeros,
Yes, these are busy times in South America. I have bid farewell to
Bolivia and have returned to the home of Macchu Picchu. My final
report on Bolivia is ready for your approval.
The country of Bolivia, referred to as the Tibet of the Americas in my
guidebook, provides stark contrasts for the relatively few tourists
that dare to cross its borders. While its scenery is, thus far, the
most consistently beautiful of any country I have visited, its people
are, thus far, the most consistently feo (ugly) of any country I have
visited. First, the good, then the bad, then the ugly.
The Good: As you already know from my previous tales of my Bolivian
saga, the country offers a wide variety of climates, activities, and
animals to its visitors. I had planned to read, to learn Spanish, or
to sleep on each bus trip, but found myself unable to keep from looking
out the window. There was either always a herd of alpacas running
around, some volcano to be captivated by, or some oncoming bus to fear.
You really have not lived until you have stepped aboard a bus in Bolivia.
(Though, I wisely chose not to travel on what is known as the most dangerous
road in the world--in 1994, twenty-six buses went over the edge of a road between La Paz and the jungle.)
The Bad: Bolivia also wore me down. The atrocious bus schedules
landed me into cities at 4, 5, and 7 AM at different points of the
trip. On unpaved roads, this accounted for several sleepless
nights. Arriving in at these times, I was less than excited to try my
luck at a high-pressure, tepid-to-warm water shower. I do truly admire
those people that I have come across who have spent three months in
Bolivia.
The Ugly: two words, The People. Throughout my travels, I have met
many wonderful Latin Americans, usually willing to help in any way
possible. In Bolivia, going out to eat often turned into a frustrating
experience. In one such case, I was enticed into a restaurant because
I saw steak grilling in the front and was told by the owner that it
would be included in my $2 meal. However, the waitress appeared to not
know that steak existed, let alone that she was less than twenty paces
from a grill full of them. After about ten minutes of her running back
and forth to the owner, we managed to get our just desserts.
All in all, Bolivia is a wonderful place to spend a week or two,
depending on your time constraints. I am much more relaxed now that I
have left there.
I have spent the past week and a half living with a terrific family in
Cuzco. I have cable tv; I have my own room; I have a servant-like
sister to cook my meals; in effect, I have a place to call home. Along
with these comforts come some negative aspects of living with a
traditional, Latin family. The father worries about me when I go out
at night; I am known as a bum for sleeping in until 11 AM last Saturday
morning; and, I am often called a womanizer for having female friends.
I have had difficulty in remembering to make my bed, to close the
bathroom door after using it, and to use the carpet-like footpads that
the others slide around on when they leave the kitchen and walk around
the house. I am slowly getting accustomed to being a little neater,
but it is taking some time.
Here, I have three elder siblings, quite a change of pace having been
the oldest child in my family. They each enjoy dispelling their wisdom,
and they marvel at my independent lifestyle. My 28-year-old sister,
Pati, took me to her kindergarten class last week. After sufficiently
riling three classes of five-year-old girls by scaring them, making
them sing, and being obnoxious to them, they were blocking the doors so
that I would not leave their classrooms. I might have to return in
about twenty years to see if they are still in love with me.
Fathers Day here was a bit different for me. I was awakened at 8 AM to
join the family for a breakfast that consisted of pig and tamales. We
spent the entire day together, and I had the opportunity to meet all
three hundred (or so it seemed) cousins, grandparents, uncles, and
in-laws. We arrived at the in-laws at around 3 PM and they insisted on
replenishing our beverages until around eight that night. I was quite
happy that we were not driving home.
All in all, it has been a wonderful experience thus far. Tomorrow is
when the grandest festival in Cuzco will take place: The Festival of
the Sun. For the preceding week, there have been parades of
schoolchildren, colorful dancers, and college students in the main
plaza from dawn to dusk. (I think that every single resident of Cuzco
has marched around the plaza at some point during the week.) I am
eagerly anticipating the big day tomorrow and will provide a full
report when next we communicate.
Luego,
Dan
|
 |
| travelbackpacker.com is dedicated to unique backpacking travel experiences. Viaje A Sudamerica highlights a six month trip backpacking through South America. |
|