Blog 2: Cusco throws a Welcome Parade

12th November 2023

At first glance, arriving into Cusco is like arriving into some central Spanish city like Salamanca or Toledo. The architecture is colonial, in the Spanish baroque style of the late 1500s, yet references to the Incas whose capitol this city once was, still abound.

I was greeted at Baggage Claim by my pre-arranged taxi driver, holding a 'JONATTAN PECK' sign. He led me outside to a cab, where it turned out he was just the sign-holder and I owed him a tip for his sign-holding. Introductions were done (in Espaniol), a handover was completed, and my driver loaded my luggage into his car. It turned out the whole taxi-driver family had come for the ride; I was allocated a seat in the back next to a child watching cartoons on a device, and introduced to Mrs Taxi-driver who was sitting in the front nursing the shopping, presumably so my bags could go in the boot (I was clearly a side-hustle on a trip home from the supermarket). Didn't matter, of course, it was a quick trip and it had already been paid for by the hotel, so there was no quibbling over fares.

Hotel Plaza de Armas, Cusco

My hotel was right on the main square, Plaza de Armas, and as I'd anticipated from the website, it had a breakfast bar/ restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square; perfect for sipping coca tea and adjusting to the altitude for a couple of days.

My room was great - back from the square but with a corner window offering a view over the rooftops to the three cathedrals. And true to the website, the hotel also had a rooftop where you could see for miles across the town to the districts clinging to the mountains around the city.

I felt tired and my head was spinning, but I wasn't sure if that was altitude or the lack of sleep on the plane and jetlag. Or all three. Anyway, immediately on arrival I was offered coca leaf tea, which I readily accepted, and I think it helped. It's essentially dried coca leaves soaked in water; it gives you just enough of a buzz to notice yr caring less about breathing, and after two cups yr mouth tingles a bit.

Fortified, I unpacked then went up to the rooftop and took some shots of the floodlit buildings around the plaza.

Then I went down to my room, crashed and woke in my clothes at about 3.00am, a good 7 hours' sleep.

Cusco puts on a parade

Next morning I stumbled down to the breakfast bar (literally, I missed a step and made an entrance). There was a decent breakfast, plenty of healthy options, and space out on the balcony, so I resolved to settle in there and sit out my altitude adjustment.

Sucking on coca leaves I watched as the plaza below filled with people of all types and sizes and colours. It was Sunday, and Mass was being broadcast out into the square from the biggest cathedral opposite.

After a while, I heard marching bands. Something big seemed to be about to happen. Officials began arriving at a podium set up at the base of the cathedral stairs. Within a matter of minutes the square was full of bands, people, march-pasts and costumes. People were arriving in national dress or uniform, in parade formations, each formation headed by it's own marching bands. Nurses, school kids, the army, you name it; they were all parading past my breakfast balcony in formation. Quite a spectacle for my first step out onto the balcony; I felt officially welcomed.

Incidentally the couple to the right in the photo above were Trump supporting Canadians.

The colours in the crowd were as big a spectacle as the marches, so I snapped a million pics. It went for hours; flags were raised, anthems were sung, people milled around in their spectacular gear. Definitely a feast for my jet-lagged eyes.

So from my birdseye position, I got a good look at the colourful national costumes of Peru. By 2.00pm only the stragglers were left in the plaza:

Two women straggling

I ventured out and got a massage at a place next to the hotel, recommended by the concierge, and started to feel my headache easing. Then I finished off the day with my first decent Peruvian meal, pork ribs, in a cafe around the corner. The ribs were hidden under a mound of local veg (see below) - the big white nodules are a type of corn. 140 different types of corn are grown in Peru and we have the Incas to thank for that, they grew the corn varieties in micro-climates created by terraces - each variety finely characterised by its terrace elevation. Those Incas, I tellya. They knew stuff.

And that was the end of my first day. I'd been officially received by the people of Cusco in a national parade. Very satisfactory.

A word about massages in Cusco

Young women tout for massage business on every street corner in Cusco. Massage is big business in a town where every second tourist is about to do the Inka trail, or more importantly has just done it and can't feel their legs. At first glance the industry looks sleazy, so I asked at the hotel for advice and they said 'just go outside and find a girl'. So I stepped outside the foyer and was immediately asked if I wanted a massage.

Taking my chances I was led upstairs to a spa and it all looked pretty legit. And I hasten to add, it was, there were no extra services offered, this is a heavily Catholic country after all. However, it was my first experience of Cusco Entrepreneurism. Cusco Entrepreneurism basically comprises upselling without necessarily telling the customer that's what yr doing, and other related petty-thievery, such as general dishonesty with change.

So for me, it went like this:

1. Girl massages my shoulders, then after 10 minutes sighs and carries on like it's a load of washing and she's struggling with the effort.

2. Second girl comes in to 'help'. She starts on my legs. In pretty good English she explains that Girl 1 is struggling with the effort of massaging my (obviously) concrete shoulders and needs help. KACHING. Cost of the massage doubles. (I could have said no of course, but it was actually quite nice and we're only talking about $20AUD extra, so I let it go.)

3. I drift off to sleep. After an hour or so ('or so' being quite important here), they whisper to each other and explain to me 'woops, they've gone over time, and as they only charge in one hour units, I will be charged for 2 hours, so I may as well be massaged for another hour, but it's up to me'. KACHING. At the time I didn't quite follow that's what they were saying in their Spanish-English, but I figured it out about 20 minutes into my second hour.

4. So I was massaged for two hours by two women at four times the original cost. Still, it all amounted to about $80 AUD, which would be a bargain in Aus, and it was a good massage, helped with my headache, so I guess everyone won.

I was to experience many, many examples of Cusco Entrepreneurship over the next few days.