A Sunday in Cuzco

I decided to take the day off today – because I haven't really had a free day since I arrived. Therefore M -who has only just arrived - and I ventured out this morning to do some sightseeing and maybe find some bearable coffee on the way. The weather was glorious, and as we arrived at the Plaza de Armas (at which one is bound to arrive if one is anywhere near the city centre) we had a surprise treat in the form of a military display.

There was a band playing gloomy andean sounds arranged for brass instruments, accompanied by a display of goose-stepping policemen and schoolchildren. We watched until we were totally surrounded by boys offering to shoeshine us at which point we decided it was time to move on. Finding a bearable coffee was not easy because I had left my city guide in W., and M.'s city guide was three years old – clearly a problem, as all the cafes listed in there seemed to have closed. After some 5 fruitless attempts we bumped into a slightly wasted looking Expatriate who very sweetly pointed us towards the next expatriate hang-out which was situated on a pretty hill just below Christo Blanco. There we parked ourselves for two hours, looked at the scenery and talked to expatriates. The coffee was also good.

The rest of the day was spent with more walking, more talking, more cafes, more plazas

and a visit to the market at which we withstood many vigorous attempts to have something or other forced upon us for a very good price.