Cusco, Day 2 and 3 (by Lawrence)

It's so funny how things get done around here.

First, a quick walk down to the "black market" led us to a booth where a serious looking man in a leather jacket disassembled our phone and transformed it into a Cusco cell phone. We are now with phone, but just here in Cusco.

Next, I had found a Mountain Bike Tour company called Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking while surfing the web back in Kansas. I walked down to their office (which is in the basement of a small restaurant...) and immediately met the boss, a terrific guy named Dougie Stewart. He is a Scottish expat who has lived in Cusco for ten years. He is married to a Peruvian and has two kids (one of whom is coincidentally named Sophia and is 5 years old). He shared an abundance of terrific information about where to live, where to send Sophia to school, and where to ride. He even offered me an excellent deal on a dual suspension mountain bike that he would buy back from me for 1/2 the purchase price when we leave the country. He explained that his company does trips from Cusco to just outside Machu Picchu. You can mountain bike to a spot just outside the ruins, then hike the rest of the way in.

Following Dougie's lead we took a taxi down to the neighborhood called El Majesterio. This area is a 15 minute cab ride downhill from the Plaza de Armas where we are currently staying. We found a huge supermarket there called, fittingly, Mega. We tried to buy the newspaper with all the rental listings, but it was not out yet for the day. So we walked around what we were told was the "high rent" district, but it looked pretty rough around the edges to us. Not five minutes into our walk Krista spied a rental sign on a door and we rang the bell. The "Duena" answered the door and showed us a pretty tragic little studio, complete with a railing-free spiral staircase. I dubbed the unprotected space between the staircase and the wall the "nighttime-falling-toddler-zone." We said our goodbyes and thanked our lucky stars that our current abode is so much nicer than that place.

Walking our way back up in the direction of the center of Cusco, the houses and yards became much nicer. We stopped for an ice cream cone in a nice little neighborhood. I asked the owner of the shop what the name of this neighborhood was and before we knew it he was walking us to three houses for rent in the area! Forget the newspaper, just go to the ice cream man! We saw one place that was nice enough, but kind of sterile and unfurnished. We would have to sign a lease for 10 months and buy things like beds, a stove, a washing machine, etc. But the price was only $375 us dollars/month. Tomorrow we go to see a furnished condominium in the same neighborhood. It looks nice from the outside.

On the way back home in a taxi there was a massive parade under way. We ate lunch at the Center Tinku and walked downtown for the parade. Unbelievably
we did not bring any of our three cameras. Quite a shame because the scene was extraordinary. Dancers, music, floats, jaw-dropping costumes, people on stilts. It was so overwhelming that I was brought to tears a few times. Parades here are equal parts athleticism, visual splendor, and musical pulse. The marchers are doing their thing for miles at high altitude in the blazing sun. And many of them are wearing 50 pound costumes. I am sure I will have ample opportunities to take photos over the course of the next 9 months.

The local underwear tienda.
My first experience with "butt-only"
mannequins.

So, a tip from the Scottish guy who runs the mountain bike tour company turned into quite a full day of discoveries. My experience of South America is that so much happens by word of mouth. Tranquilo, no mas. Hopefully we'll find a place we are happy with soon. In the meantime, do enjoy the photos of me doing dishes and the kids playing with dress-up felt people on the floor of our transitory home.





The view down from the sleeping loft in
our studio at Centro Tinku.