Wednesday 18 October 2006

nearly finished

 

All I intended to do today was buy souveniers but I ended up discovering the grave of Tupac Amaru. Strangely there were no tourists and the church it was indidn't charge entry even though it is right by the qoricancha. Afterwards I walked out for ages, the tourist restaurants were slowly replaced by places doing a 3 course lunch for 2 soles, then even those stopped and the crowd thinned till I came out onto a quiet open place caled Plaza Belen on the top of a hill, it felt a very long way from central Cuzco.

 

The following are a few random observations I couldn't fit elsewhere.

 

Names

 

Recently I was pleased to find that the combination of Spanish tradition and US influence means that there is a mayoral election between jesus and Elvis.

 

Taxis

 

Taxi drivers probably don't vote for Elvis, I was in one taxi which has the following. "Dios es Amor" sign on the windscreen, red carpet fringed in gold tassels on the dashboard, two pictures of saints hanging from the mirror, a large gold crucifix and best of all a plastic statue of the virgin Mary with a halo that flashed in time with the indicators.

 

Traffic

 

They may feel they need the protection as the general rule of the road is to use the horn not the brake but if anything I've been surprised by how good traffic management is here, traffic lights are obeyed and there are traffic police at main intersections. I haven't even seen anyone drive on the wrong side of the road, which is surprising to someone who judges most poor countries by Hanoi.

 

The trip is very nearly over, there are other things I could write but I need some stories to bore everyone with when I get back. Probably won't blog tommorrow as I'm just flying to Lima and stopping in a hotel till I leave but I may add something on Bogota if I get out of the airport there.

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