Friday, August 1

Location: Cuzco, Peru

Today's weather: 19░C, Sunny

Today still felt a little cold, though I think it is still somewhere around 20░C.

I was woken up around 7am by what sounded like gunfire. It turned out that Peruvians (or at least some of the Peruvians in Cuzco) are very partial to fireworks. When I went outside afterwards I saw someone swinging a piece of string around their head. When the string struck the ground, something on the end of it exploded generating lots of smoke and lots of noise. Another person was firing skyrockets into the air.

I wandered down some side streets, looking for Inca walls and other things. I found a few, but the ones I found weren't as spectacular as I'd imagined they would be. Feeling hungry, I popped into a small cafe where some locals were having breakfast. The cafe was small, dark, with bare stone walls and a front which opened up onto the street. Several local people sat nearby slurping at bowls of noodle, which I thought was a strange thing to be having for breakfast. Once inside, I found a seat and ordered orange juice (Jugo de Naranja) and coffee. A 10 year old boy took my order, then delivered it to his mother who was busily working in the tiny kitchen area out back. On the way out, the boy grabbed several oranges with which to make the juice (orange juice in South America is almost always freshly squeezed and mixed with a little sugar).

Next came the coffee, which was a little different to what I'd expected. Instead of getting coffee I was simply given a cup of hot water. While I was staring at it somewhat baffled, the boy returned again with a small silver jug. I must have looked confused, because one of the people close-by me gestured that I was supposed to pour the contents of the jug into the cup of hot water. The jug contained a thick coffee concentrate which, when mixed with the hot water, made an excellent cup of coffee. Easy when you know how.

The rest of my day was pretty uneventful. I was still a little unused to the altitude, so decided to take things very easy. Short walks still left me a little breathless, but it was better than yesterday. I decided to catch up on my writing, so I spent some of the morning in my room busily typing things into my computer. But, after an hour the surroundings of my room seemed pretty depressing, so I packed up my laptop computer and moved downstairs into a small cafe. Here I could work, drink coffee, and snack – all at the same time (while also watching an old episode of Knightrider dubbed in Spanish). At midday, one of the cafe staff suggested lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't know what I'd agreed to – and out came three courses: soup, rice and meat, and dessert. This must have been the standard lunch menu, since everyone else in the cafe was having the same. It was all too much for me to eat.

In the afternoon I found a local Internet connection, so was able to check my email and reply to messages. The evening was also pretty quiet – spending some of it looking through local shops and more sidestreets. Dinner was at another small local cafe, which served giant hamburgers on a plate, with potato chips and salad. The meat patties were locally made, and huge – much better than McDonalds, whose burgers look very scimpy (and expensive) in comparison. Total cost was s/$4.50 ($NZ 2.75).

After dinner, I talked a little more with Karen and Janice in the room next to me. Both planned to walk the Inca Trail – a four day trek that leads to Machu Picchu. Karen was still feeling a little sick, so they weren't too sure if she'd be able to go. But both were looking forward the expedition very much – the Inca Trail follows an old Inca road to Machu Picchu, travelling through jungle and visiting several old Inca ruins along the way. It is very popular with the large number of backpackers who come to visit Peru.