More train fun

P1050268
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

The lonliest cyclist in Perú.

Actually, that´s a blatant lie as there were several along this highway.

Why must you turn my office into a house of lies!?

I´m sorry, it´s my problem, I´ll deal with it.

More training to Puno

P1050256
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

This was taken approaching the highest point we reached during the trip, something like 14, 210 feet, my apologies to the metric world. So, you can only imagine how high those peaks in the background are.

Taining in.

P1050249
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

Sure, sure, there´s plenty more to tell about Cusco, but who´s
got the time? Certainly not me what with my priceless daily hours
spent on the various internets throughout South America.

So, to wrap up my funandgreat times in Cusco: I stayed for Christmas, I stayed for New Years, both memorable in their bombasticness. In order to celebrate both holidays properly,
TNT is apparently the firework of choice. Doesn´t matter if it is
illegal, you got to light that stick and set it down next to someone
you´ve never seen before. BOOM! What terrifying fun! Never
been so shell shocked in my life. I´ve never actually been shell-
shocked, so that last statement is riddled with truth.

Now, the train ride. I was hoping to save some money and travel
with the backpackers, but that service is out of service; only the
deluxe service is now servicing the best of the best tourists
travelling from Cusco to Puno. So, what the hell, I´ll pay $130 for
a 10 hour train ride. Yet again, the Peru Rail experience did not
disappoint, serving up another one of the most surreal travel experiences of the trip. And yes, there was a fashion show.

Perhaps it is the contrast of luxurious, monied tourists traveling in a luxurious, monied train through an extremely impoverished region that makes the experience stand out. On the way out of Cusco I was
staring blankly out the window when a swiftly traveling stone struck the train not three feet from my window. Take that, rich people!

Sarcasm aside, being able to travel in such accomodations is an extreme privilege, to be sure. Made all the more apparent by the refinery of the train and the abject poverty that the train passes through. Who doesn´t love carving up a nice juicy steak, washing it
down with a fine red wine while staring out the (protective) windows at the incredible scenery?

On the other train from Machu Picchu to Cusco, I was basking in the contrasts yet again, staring out the windows at the scenery and the people when I read the lips of one local: "¡pinches ricos!" I´ll let you all translate that one on your own internets time.

To be able to travel as I do through this part of the world is, again,
quite the privilege. Especially considering the fact that a lot the people living in the "third world" conditions down here would risk their lives and families to be able to earn the minimum wage in the US of A. Quite the paradox.

To conclude, I loved and hated the train ride. Some of the most incredible landscapes I´ve ever passed through, accompanied by some of the richest people I`ve ever been around. Nothing wrong with them, just the constant reminder that being rich does not mean
that you have taste. Yeesh, some of the worst fashion mistakes I´ve
ever seen. Thus, I´ve just negated anything of substance that may have ocurred in this post. Excellent.

Late capitalist fun on the train!

Funandgreat on the train
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

This was by far one of the most surreal moments of the trip. These two handsome employees performed a stunning alpaca fashion show for about 30 minutes.

But first, there was this guy....

Let the fun begin!

Funandgreat on the train
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

Before the high fashion really got rollin´, this fella danced up and down the aisle in the more "traditional" manner. Most likely scaring the bejeezus out of the mostly non-peruvian crowd. "Oh dear, do you think that could be one of those Shining Path people?"

The two employees who then did multiple runway walks in $2-300 alpaca sweaters were definitely of a different class than this masked employee. This was evident on two levels: 1) the "models" were the attendants in three piece suits who waited on the clients; the other fellow wore more of a doorman type uniform and performed more menial tasks; 2) I am loathe to play the race card, but it was hard to miss. The "models" were most definitely from a higher socioeconomic class and just a bit whiter than the man in the mask. Only an observation. Does that make me racist? Or am I just programmed to see things that way coming from the most PC of
nations?

Anyway, shock and awe were two feelings I felt as the crowd clapped and whistled (was that a wolf whistle I just heard? ) during the fashion show. But how many models have to then hand sell the wares they just paraded up and down the aisle to their audience? Take that Paris and New York!

Machupicchumachupicchumachupicchu

Machupicchumachupicchumachupicchu
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

And then there was Machu Picchu. The above photo was taken from Huaynapicchu, something like "young" or "little picchu". That was quite a hike, but certainly no lack of tourists making the ascent with their
hearts beating rabidly against the confines of their ribcages and the lack of oxygen.

Coudn´t keep my finger off that big button on the camera despite the three hours of fog and rain.

The park is all it´s cracked up to be and more. Vertiginous, awe inspiring, dumbfounding and jaw-dropping. Although I´d like to see
a real live Incan priest pull a still-beating heart out of a llama´s chest. You know, just to round out the experience. That´d make a neat-o beer commercial.

Speaking of beer commercials, one was being filmed here in the last couple of years and one of the camera cranes swung wildly and chipped a corner off the sundial. Oh, that thing has worked in years! It never tells the correct time. Just a little late capitalist fun in one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Qosqo - el ombligo del mundo

La plaza de armas, Cusco
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

Now we´re getting somewhere. Where exactly, who can say?

Cusco was/is great. Again, very colonial, lots of tourists. Probably
more tourists per square centimeter than any other place in South America. It is, afterall, the launching pad for Machu Picchu.

I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast called "La panza del artista." Highly recommended. I was the only guest, but don´t let that fool you. The family that runs the place is great and Carlos, the father/husband will regale you with jokes every morning, while María, his wife, whips up a mean breakfast.

I also met some wonderful people in Cusco, a nice community of young artists doing their thing trying to sell their paintings and photos to the wandering hordes of tourists. One of these outstanding citizens spent two years traversing Perú on foot at the
ripe age of 17; he walked from one village to the next "studying" their fiestas. When party ended somebody would inform him: "there´s another party in the next village over. Here, I´ll take you." Nice way to see the country.

Worst blogger EVER!

Ceviche, Fory Fay, Arequipa
Originally uploaded by fake fotos

Whoah, how long has it been? I don´t even remember.

Here´s a picture of the most amazing ceviche I consumed on
this trip. Perhaps I picked this pic as I can still remember the flavor;
maybe because I ate that red pepper on top and I still very much
remember that.

Arequipa. Let´s see... dig deep in the memory box. Very colonial.

How´s that?

Cobble stone streets swarming with yellow taxis.

Lots of colonial churches, lots of tourists.

The food was great. Also had some incredible anticucho de corazón,
shiskabob of beef heart.

Apparently the sun is extra strong in Arequipa. That or they all have really bad eyesight. On one street there were three or four blocks in which EVERY store was an "Optica."

Alrighty, then. On to Cusco, the bellybutton of the world.