Our first night in Cusco, I barely slept a wink. My
bed and pillow were terribly uncomfortable and I kept alternating
between being too hot and too cold. Needless to say,
I felt horrible the next morning.
After
purchasing our train tickets to Aguas Calientes (the town
nearest to Machu Picchu), we decided to spend the morning
visiting the Incan ruins that overlook Cusco. There
were four different sites that we visited, and they got
progressively better. The first two sites were fairly
small, the first of which was almost entirely roped off
so that you couldn’t see much of it up close.
When
we reached the third site, Quenko, we decided to pay for
a guide, and it was worth it. Quenko is an ancient
Incan ruin that has great astrological significance.
During the Winter Solstice, there are a few shadows that
are formed in the morning, and only for 15-30 minutes.
There are also several shapes that can bee seen in the rocks,
such as a llama and a puma. We also learned of the
significance of the “three worlds”: the
upper world is represented by the condor, the lower world
is represented by the snake, and this world is represented
by the puma.
The
last of the four ruin sites was called “Sacsay Huaman” (pronounced
“Sexy Woman”), which means “satisfied falcon.” By
far the most impressive of the four sites, it was good that
we again chose to hire a guide. We split the cost
of the guide with two women who were traveling from the
UK. I almost lost my composure shortly after the tour
began when our guide proclaimed, “You are now inside Sexy
Woman!” I thought, “Sweet! At least now I can
make it sound like I was successful with the ladies down
here!”
Sacsay
Huaman was an important religious and military base for
the Incas. Ultimately, however, they were unable to
hold the fort from the invading Spanish army, who took control
of it and nearly destroyed it. The Spanish disassembled
some of the base, using the smaller stones to construct
houses for themselves.
Sacsay
Huaman was impressive mostly due to its sheer size.
I would call it “Big and Beautiful.” One interesting
feature was a rock that had become smoothed, so that it
looked like some sort of prehistoric slide. At the
urging of our guide, Tesh and I climbed up the rock and
slid down, as if we were back in grade school.
We
finished touring the ruins around 3pm and decided to head
over to the “San Blas” neighborhood to check out Macondo,
a restaurant owned by the same person who owns Fallen Angel,
which is allegedly the swankiest discoteca in Cusco.
It was at this restaurant that we ran into the guy who switched
seats with Tesh on the plane. We were seated and I
ordered Alpaca Mignon, aka llama steak. I figured
that I needed to try some authentic Peruvian dishes.
The alpaca was OK—I guess it tastes like chicken.
Well, actually it tasted like beef except it was a bit gamey.
It was pretty good, but I don’t need to order it again.
We
then headed back to the hostel and had our daily “chill”
time, which I usually spent writing in my journal before
taking a short nap. Around 8:40, I jumped in the shower
and woke the guys up at 9:00. I could tell that Rocky
didn’t really feel like going out, but he appeased me and
got ready nonetheless.
We
walked around, looking for a restaurant, when we found one
that was still seating customers at 10:00pm and had a dinner
special for 15 Soles (around US$5). The dinner was
pretty good and afterward, we walked to Mythology, a discoteca.
Earlier, when we had met a promoter for the club, he told
us that there were “no police in the club” and
that we could get whatever we wanted. Later on, we
learned that this ranged from drugs and women to guns and
passports. It sounded like an interesting place so
we decided to check it out. When we arrived, we were
escorted upstairs and served our free pisco sours, which
we declined to drink because of the ice (we have to follow
the rules SOME of the time!) and, since the place was a
little sketchy, because we didn’t want to drink anything
that we didn’t actually see being prepared. Instead,
we ordered some beers and found a table with a good view
of the dance floor.
We
chilled for a little while and watched one guy who was dancing
like a freak with half a dozen random women. He was
such a total clown that it wasn’t even funny. I was
embarrassed for him.
People
flowed in and out of the club, but it didn’t really seem
to be filling up and it became abundantly clear that Rocky
wanted to leave. We were discussing whether or not
to leave when a group of girls come in and took a table
across the room. I tried to spice up the evening by
daring Rocky to go over and work his mojo with the ladies.
Much to my surprise, he actually stood up an walked over
to their table. But at the last moment, he turned
past their table and headed downstairs to the bathroom.
He wussed out! I was so disappointed in him.
Then again, being the shy guy that I am, I wasn’t even considering
going over there myself.
Tesh
and I continued drinking and a few minutes later, we saw
Rocky emerge from the stairwell...but he isn’t alone!
He was talking to one of the girls from the other table,
and then she introduced him to the rest of her friends.
Shortly thereafter, he returned to tell us that we’ve all
been invited to join them at their table. Jackpot!
I knew that I could count on Rocky—I never doubted
him for a moment! The night has started anew!
Oliver
can be reached at oliver@babblog.com.
|
