Cusco

Our next stop was Cusco, archeological hub of Peru and the springboard to Machu Picchu - a city interfused with Inca and colonial heritage, where camping gear is touted as often as massages and cocaine. 

We stayed in the eclectic Milhouse, sharing a dorm with a couple of women  who "don't wash until we smell ourselves" - luckily, For Tali's Sake, this didn't affect the bathroom cleanliness. Forsaking the ruins of the surrounding sacred valley, we passed our time in the hostel ballpit (a South American standard, along with rabid resident dogs). 

18 going on 4

Andrex puppy, ft rabies

Cusco is equally rambunctious at night. Along with Charlie Shaw (a friend from London), we were bundled into a "party bus" - an open top VW camper van - and hurtled around the city; our first taste of kidnapping? PB pulled up outside Temple, a club with as much class as N-Dubz's Tulisa, and where - as I learnt the hard way - the local men don't solely grind on gringo girls.

Party Bus, or How To Get Kidnapped

What is the gringo in Cusco?  They near outnumber the locals,  almost every shop is geared towards their needs, English has displaced the ancient Quechua language. And yet Cusco remains the city closest to its history (still celebrating Corpus Christi, see below), and the gringo a distinct creature. Trying to enter the cathedral (which took 100 years to build), I unsuccessfully reasoned "pero soy catolico" - gringo catholic is different from local. 

From Cusco we embarked upon a 4 day "jungle trek" to Machu Picchu (accounts follow), returning to meet our friends Milly, Ted and Paris before heading to Bolivia. 

Choc "museum"

Cocoa addiction

Corpus Christi was in full swing when we arrived back in the city: it used to be an Incan festival in which the mummified bodies of past Incas (sun king) were paraded and revered.

 Main cathedral during CC

Although the Spanish replaced the corpses with biblical figures, the festival maintains a link to the inca heritage, with fried guinea pigs abounding. 

With love