In Peru, attraction tourists you!

Greetings gentle readers.

I am reporting to you live from Cuzco, Peru, an extraordinarily beautiful city (forgive me if I ramble a little, we had a drink or two last night and the altitude increased its effectiveness about ten-fold... so we´re all four a little groggy this morning). That´s right, we four - I believe Luke mentioned briefly our new friend Nalani (is it ok to reference something from brackets in the main part of the text? I´m gonna go ahead and... continue...anyway). She has been with us since the bus trip up from Tacna and is just great to have around. Apart from just being alot of fun she is from Costa Rica (though a resident of California) so is fluent in Spanish. Having a personal translator go with us on our explorations has simplified what could have been some tricky negotiations - and having that translator be young and attractive I´m sure has increased the friendliness of some otherwise potentially recalcitrant taxi and collectivo drivers! Sadly we have to part ways tomorrow as we three embark on the Inca Trek to Machu Pichu and she returns to Costa Rica for christmas.

But yeah, Cuzco is fascinating. It´s possibly to see the history of the place in the very walls - many buildings, from cathedrals to cafes are built on solid Inca foundations, with shoddy Colonial Spanish walls and many more recent additions. The from our hostel room window it is possible to see most of the city, with its heart - The Plaza de Armas - right below us and the streets and outer plazas climbing up the hills away from it. The streets are rarely more than one lane wide, in most places there being just enough room for a taxi to pass a pedestrian between buildings if the pedestrian breathes in.

Additionally, the Scared Valley around Cuzco is spectacular. One of us can hopefully come and right a more complete report about our adventurings here but for now my time runs short. Perhaps I´ll just let the pictures do the talking - I´ve added a few more to the current album.

Adios

P.S. In a couple of places, some Peruvians forget themselves and wanted to take photos of us. Was very odd. Most odd was when a professional film company stopped us and asked us to let them film us walking along. No idea where that footage will end up, or in what context.