"Casa!"

Saturday night Sunday morning was the tortuous 20 hour bus journey from Lima to Cusco, heart of the ancient Inca Empire. The trip was made much more bearable by the amusing conversation of a very charming young Irishman by the name of Conor. He noticed most perceptibly, I thought, that even though we were in VIP luxurious leather seat class, we still got disgusting Inca Kola to drink and both food options smelt more than a little like something regurgitated.

So no sleep whatsoever, but at certain points during the overnight drive through the twisty turny path through the Andes the scenery was spectacular. The Andes rose 30\35 feet above us, inches separating them from our bus, and it´s so dark that the stars are almost blinding. To cap it all the bus company provides entertainment in the form of one to two year old rubbish films, e.g. the unbelievably dull Cellular with the unfeasibly untalented Ms Basinger("Are you still there?" - yes, unfortunately - "Yes, I sliced your brachial artery. Fourth grade biology. You lose 30 pints in 10 minutes" - what dialogue, and I´m thinking to myself that you don´t have 30 pints of blood... for those who haven´t seen it, don´t bother). But, la piece de resistance, spanish bingo. Conor and I giggling and snorting whilst frantically trying to mark off numbers when we don´t speak spanish. And what are we playing for??? Is it quattro rincones? Un linea? Casa completo? The pressure! The tension! If that wasn´t good enough, the winner of the bingo extravaganza, a Senor X from smalltownsville, came on the microphone thanking the bus company for his prize, at length. Stupendous! National Express should take a leaf out of this book. Richard Branson take note.

So I´m going to spanish class every day and my head is going to explode, there´s no doubt about it. I thought it would be a good idea to live with a family as I would speak more spanish. This is all true, and my family is absolutely delightful, but I am attempting to access neurons and pathways that frankly became extinct at around the same time as said neurons were being introduced to the periodic table of elements (also long forgotten) and the fjords of Norway (remembered, but mainly because of Slartibartfast - the answer was 42 though and that´s what I am, so maybe that´s an ominously good sign).

Cusco is a wonderful city and should those of you who haven´t been get the chance, then go. The Plaza de Armas is a real hub, with beautiful churches and a magnificent colonial style cathedral built with stones from the ancient Inca site of Sacsayhuaman (actually pronounced sexy woman). It´s a small but lively city with lots of great bars and places to eat, clubs and dancing. I´ve had a couple of salsa lessons since I´ve been here which have been great fun, although still suffering from the altitude a little. Cusco is surrounded by Inca sites and local artesan markets. Obviously, as with all of Peru, there is the residual problem of wealth and poverty, a lot of poverty, and some of the children make your heart bleed.



View from my house on Cuesta Santa Ana, 10 minute walk to the Plaza des Armes, down tortuous and potentially lethal slippery steps...





It´s also a good meeting point as many people pass through here and spend a couple of days after the Inca Trail. I just bumped into Jules who ran the tour Lucy and I were on in March in the Plaza de Armes, so we´re off for dinner, cuba libres and dancing this evening. Over the weekend I´m meeting up with someone else who was on our March trip, and H and Kate my new Yosemite mates...it´s one long party.