Right well, I´ve left Cusco and am in the jungle now

Right, well, I´ve left Cusco and am now in
Pilcopata, the last town before Manu, part of the Peruvian jungle. Again, I have a million things I want to write about. As I travel I around I find myself getting excited about everything from the number of landslides over the road and how many people they managed to squash on a bus, to how the girls carry their pets around and the multitudes of different types of corn.















I want to share it all with you, but for that I´d have to spend all day in the internet cafe, and you all day reading. So I think you'll have to go travelling yourself.

I definitely still have time to write about some stuff though and still have photos to share too.

Firstly, although a bit out of order, here are some photos of all the defiles (parades/processions) and dancers that were marching through Cusco when I first arrived, for the whole week before Inti Raymi. One day primary schools, then secondary, then colleges and universities, then all the businesses and organisations in Cusco. It was amazing to see. So many different costumes and dances. I was impressed not only by how they managed to organise so many people, all day every day, but also that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE knows how to dance from and early age.







Next we have some lovely photos of the delicious looking meats and animal parts available in the markets here. Believe me, it was nothing compared to what we saw on the Salkantay trip. When we arrived at one of the campsites we saw about 5 men chopping up and hosing off various parts of a cow on a concrete slab, while another cow stood roped to a tree near by. I´m sure the cow was acting nervous, wondering what had happened to his friend. We dropped our bags in a room, got changed, and when we came out of the room the cow at the tree was gone. Instead there was head, freshly stripped of skin and the body of a cow, on it's back, split down the front and layed out like a carpet... but still with it's snout attached and poking out at the front, upside down. it was very gross but so bizarre that I couldn't look away. And I still eat meat, so there you go. (Sorry, no photos)

Right, and now to my trip out of Cusco. It actually rained early in the morning. As usual everything was late but I had a front row seat in the bus and food, so who's complaining. As we left Cusco there seemed to be loads of traffic in front of us and masses of people walking in both directions, but mostly back towards Cusco. There there started to be more and more rocks on the road that cars and buses in both directions were manouevering around.





At first I though a load must have fallen off a truck but then, to the rocks, came branches and broken glass. The bus came to a stop again. Finally we got moving and drove past burning piles of rocks and wood. Buses and trucks were being redirected backwards, forwards, to the sides of the road... Eventually we came to a complete stop right where the action seemed to be. All I could see was people congregated on the road. In total we must have been stopped there for an hour but as time passed people started getting out of buses, buying food, tourists getting close and taking photos. Then all of a sudden rocks started being thrown. I did see one lady with a bleeding forehead but all the action seemed to have this strange 'un-dangerous' air about it. While rocks were flying through the air I saw people laughing as they scattered. The people that sell bread were making the most of this opportunity of having so many potential customers stopped right outside their door, running around frantically (in the photos, the people with the red and yellow plastic bags). What it turned out to be was the teachers demonstrating. Various levels of teachers had been striking in Cusco ever since the Plaza de Armas has been left empty of dancers and parades. Again my lack of spanish means I don´t quite understand why they are striking but I´ve been told the Government is letting graduates of other degrees, like engineering, work as teachers, so the current teachers are pissed off. I´ve also heard that the Government wants to introduce standardised testing of the teachers which they don't like either. Others have said they want better conditions and more pay. What it means for me is that I'm meant to be volunteering in a school, teachers are striking, so for 3 days here in Pilcopata I've been resting. And slowly I'm getting bored. Rafaella is stranded in Cusco because no buses are able to leave the city, and no buses have arrived here either.

Anyway, finally the police came and people cheered. They really did nothing much except walk up with their guns over their shoulders, people cleared space in front of them, the buses followed and then I saw the police clearing rocks off the road. One policeman was using his shield as a shovel device. Who said police weren't innovative?

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful despite the crazy road with massive puddles, holes, landslides and waterfalls across it. I´m sure in Australia it would be a 4 wheel drive road ONLY but here no one gives a second thought to buses doing the route at least 3 times a week in both directions.

These last few photos are just from when I visited Sacsaywaman before it was filled with Inti Raymi festivities and audiences. There are some rocks there that are like slippery slides. My teacher was taking this one, intelligently standing right across the rock where I was sliding so of course I smashed into her as I got to the half way point. I knew this was going to happen but couldn't figure out how to tell her to move in spanish so I just went 'weeeeeeeeeee' and slide away.