I've been in Cusco for a week, but I've been a bit busy, what with apartment hunting and orientation for work, but today I was finally able to go see some things. I was really looking forward to some Incan ruins, so that's what I did.
I went with three girls I met while staying at the Family House before finding an apartment. We took a small bus that did not smell good. A combination of B.O., urine, and something else I'd rather not identify. Kind of sad how quickly you get used to it, though. Anyway, our first stop was Moray, ruins left from an Incan agriculture experiment. We had to do a lot of bargaining with the taxi driver to wait for us for 50 minutes instead of 40. He acted like the extra 10 minutes was a huge sacrifice. I didn't really trust the guy. The scenery on the way to, and at the ruins, was absolutely beautiful. It just seemed surreal. I couldn't quite believe I was there. (The pictures just don't do it justice.) From up above, the Incan terraces just looked like really big circles, but once we got inside, we realized just how deep they are. We definitely realized how deep they are while hiking back up at an altitude higher than Cusco. I'm not really a runner, but I'm pretty sure I could run several miles without feeling that winded and out of breath. Then I see the tiny old ladies with bare feet, hunched over from the weight of their enormous packs on their backs, not even breaking a sweat. Altitude is humbling.
On the way to our next stop, the taxi driver that I didn't trust offered to play us some American music. For some reason, in my wildest dreams, while I was driving through the Peruvian countryside, UB40's Red Red Wine wasn't playing in the background.
Our next stop was Salinas, which are salt mines. You would think salt mines wouldn't be all that interesting, but you would be wrong. It looked like such alien landscape, like something out of Star Wars (none that I've ever really seen that either.) The salt is used for cattle licks, I think. Amy, could you explain why cows need salty licks?
When we were done with the salt mines, we walked to the nearest town to catch a bus to the town where we needed to catch a bus back to Cusco (got that?) but when we asked some locals where to catch the bus, they offered to take us in the back of their truck. So we did. (I'd say not to tell my parents, but the last I checked, they could read English pretty well, so I'm sure I'll be hearing about it soon.) We went over the fundamentals of the tuck and roll, just in case they were kidnappers, but they were just really friendly people. They dropped us right off in front of the bus station, and with that, I had my first South American hitching experience. We stopped for lunch before boarding the bus, and I'm still not sure what kind of meat I ate. Our 7-year-old waiter told us it was cow (I think), but if that's the case, it's a cut of beef I've never tasted before. I think I'll feel better if I think of it as alpaca meat. I'd rather think I ate alpaca than the leftover parts of a cow.
3 comments:
I once had mystery meat in Italy. I think it was pigeon (a.k.a. squab), but it was so tasty, I just didn't bother asking!
Unfortunately cows are somewhat limited by not having opposable thumbs. Thus they do not have some of the freedoms us humans have grown accustom to such as salting our food.
Seriously though, salt licks are to supplement cows diets with sodium. I believe salt licks often contain other important nutrients. This is especially important for grazing cows who eat food with lower nutritional quality. One thing I know for sure is that the salt licks are quite tasty. (This is of course from observation rather than first hand knowledge.)
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