Bus Adventure to... (4/20/2014)

Today, our goal was to see the rumored "Sistine Chapel of South America". We began by asking the hostel how to get to Andahuaylillas, which is a small town about 45 km outside of Cuscohat is home to the "templo" to locals. It involved getting on a bus to take us to another bus, which would then drive us along a road where we would magically know when to get off.

Bus #1: largely uneventful, mostly because it was so short, costing us only 0.70 soles

Bus #2: we gave up our seats to some older señoras who thanked us profusely, a woman breast feeding, crazy bumping/turns, Yonas by some miracle did not vomit, packed bus, luckily getting off at the correct stop

Now, the Sistine Chapel of South America was obviously beautiful with its gold leaf, Cusco-style paintings, and elaborate yet brutal religious art, but we also noticed a celebration going on in the town square. By complete happenstance, we ran into Lola and she introduced us to several people in the community. We partook in a traditional round of beer drinking and then danced around in a circle to traditional music. We all paired off with individuals in the community; unfortunately for us ladies the men of the village were definitely on the intoxicated side, so we ladies all banded together for the rest of the song. One woman even sang an Easter song in Quechua, which was awesome. Yonas was feeling particularly horrible, so he headed back to the Cusco, and Lola led us to other churches in the area. We utilized a taxi... Each time I thought we would not be able to fit more people in the cab, we added several more passengers until 11 people were jammed in this little cab. 

The other churches were beautiful, albeit less ornate, but lunch was particularly special. In this beautiful, green paradise we ate a delicious meal of pork and chicken, served with multiple types of potatoes and a salad. We drank pear juice made from pears that grew in the restaurant's garden. It was all absolutely amazing and delicious. We finished off our adventure in Urku, the capital of a neighboring province, by touring the Sunday market. We were probably the only non-natives in the area, and it was fabulous.

I definitely experienced an aspect of Peruvian culture that I had not seen before. The city's Urku was crowded and some of it was in poor condition. The busses were packed and the taxi drivers drove like maniacs down one-way highways.

I freaking love it here! But best of all, we made it back to our hostel all in one piece, utilizing only public transit once in th city of Cusco.

Besitos,

EmBoss