TravelBlog Index

Arriving in Cusco for Halloween etc.
Approaching El Salvador, the stop before Lima.

The mountains of Peru in November.

Yes, they celebrate Halloween in Cusco.

I was sitting on a bench in San Blas (an area of the city) just across from these 2 young girls, looked down at my bag and discovered that the weave was coming apart.

Looking around I found only a plastic bag as a means to bind the hole. As I started to tear the bag into strips, a young man approached me who had spools of cord for tying beads into hair. He offered me a piece and a señorita on the other side of me gave me her crochet hook to use. I then patched up my bag so it would hold together enough till I could get back to the appartment to mend it properly.

I love these little experiences.

Here you can see the string bag on the chair, that I was talking about above.

I went to a restaurant that Musi and I have enjoyed, hoping to get the trout menu but it was too late in the day for the tourist menu. (A 3 or 4 course meal with a few choices posted outside of the restaurant.)

Anyway, on my way there, I saw another tourist menu outside a restaurant also advertising trout.

I went in and checked it out. I ended up having a very delicious meal and making friends with the woman who was serving me.

That is an original Incan wall behind me.

My friend from the restaurant.
Below— a sample of Halloween in the streets of Cusco—lots of witches about.

Plaza de Armas, the main square in Cusco on Halloween night.

Instead of saying "trick or treat," the children would say "Halloween," when asking the merchants or the people in the plaza to put something in their plastic pumpkin.

Get grandma in the picture too.

Is this her First Communion dress?

Ah, the return of Baby Taylor.

I looked up my friend Ellie and on the second try, found her at her shop. Her husband, Pacolo, who I played music with last time, is in Argentina.

Ellie invited me for lunch with her 3 children so here we are walking to their house. See if you can spot all three of them in the photo above left.

That's Ellie in front, approaching her door.

This room is the children's bedroom with a bathroom.
There is a separate kitchen room and another room for Ellie.

The view back down.

From the back.
Collecting plasic bottles to recycle for cash. Puts food on the table.

From the side.
I think it was a woman, not sure.

I watched this old woman for a long time from a bench a little ways away, in the area of the San Pedro market.

She kept her hand out begging for money. One thing that impresses me about Cusco, is that people do give money to the old ones on the street.

I had my sole in my hand and my camera. I wanted to give her the sole for sure, but I was hesitant about taking her picture.

Finally I walked up to her, gave her the sole and asked, foto? And here she is posing for me. That could even be a smile on her face.

Incredible!

Shopping at San Pedro market. Bannanas, mandarins, tomatoes, mangoes, passion fruit, ginger, potatoes.....

And the veduras y queso.
Veggies, cheese and my stove.