24th Nov
Early start and off to the Toyota dealer in downtown
Cuzco, with fingers crossed that a) they would have the spare parts we needed,
and b) they could do the job for us without delay, and without booking in for a
service ! We found them no problem
(getting to know our way around Cusco now), and they didn’t seem particularly
perturbed that I had no booking. They
found someone who spoke English and he confirmed he could replace the bushings,
and in addition do the oil change I requested. So after getting stuff out of
the car, we were told to be back to pick the car up at 6 pm. So we got in a taxi and set off to spend the
day doing something (we didn’t yet know what) in Cuzco.
It had all been a bit of a hurry getting packed up this
morning, so first stop was to go and get a cup of coffee. We had seen a little place on the Plaza de
Almas in the centre which was up on a little balcony, overlooking the square
itself. So after taking a couple of pics of the lovely golden statue of the
Inca leader Pachacuteq on the fountain in the middle of the square, we found
the little café and sat having a slow coffee, watching the action in the
square. What were we going to do until 6
pm ?? We managed to stretch the coffee
out till about 11.15, and then we went down to look for a free Walking Tour of
Cuzco that we had seen advertised previously.
When we got into the square we found that the tour started at 12.15, and
last approximately 2 ½ hours. Perfect. So after sitting in the sunshine for a
while, we set off on our walking tour, led by a young local who is off to
Australia to go to Uni shortly – On the Gold Coast ! Small world.
We wandered through various parts of town, with the guide
pointing out various points of interest as we went. Unfortunately he seemed a bit short on
historical details, and seemed to spend much of his time explaining how
expensive some of the hotels were, especially when Mick Jagger stayed in them,
or else telling the younger people on the tour how to get into some of the
local churches and tourist sights free instead of paying. Nevertheless, we kept going until he started
going up some of the steep hills – We were still very stiff from
Machupicchu. We asked if he was going up
to the area near our camp site (which we had already visited and didn’t need to
see again), and he said no. So we kept
going !
Luckily the tour went into a level area just in time, and
we were taken into a local musicians shop where he makes a traditional type of
Peruvian guitar or lute – All much smaller than normal guitars because in the
Spanish era the locals were forbidden to play guitars so they made much smaller
ones that they could hide under their ponchos !
They are beautifully made, usually from a single piece of wood, and one
version even has 18 strings. The owner
played several of his instruments, and the music was exceptional. He gives free lessons because he was taught
for nothing, and feels he should pass the skill on down. A fascinating half hour.
From there we DID go further up hill to San Cristobal
where we had been already, but since we had been able to have a rest at the
musician’s house, we made it OK. We then
came down through some of the tiny streets and stairways of Cuzco, with some
great views down into the main plaza. We
then ended up in a bar where they demonstrated how to make Pisco Sours, and we
all had a couple on the house. After
which we tipped him for the tour, and set off back into the centre.
It was now 2.30 pm, and we still had 3 ½ more hours to
kill ! So we found a little local
restaurant where we could have a set lunch for less than $3 each – And it was
so big we couldn’t finish it ! By now we
just wanted to go to sleep – But where ?
Then we spotted Paddy’s Irish Pub and decided a drop of Guinness and a
corner seat would just put us to sleep nicely – So we did just that – Except
the draught Guinness is no longer supplied there due to the limited shelf life,
so we had to do with a local dark beer.
But it did the trick and we slumped in front of some English soccer game
on Satellite TV until almost 5.30 pm !
Taxi back to the Toyota dealer and we waited in their
lounge. While there another LandCruiser
came in with US plates on, so we started chatting to the owner – He turned out
to be Polish and called Tomas. We had a
good chat with him until Troopie was finished, and after paying a very small
bill, set off home to the camp site – With all the squeaks now gone !! Great !
Oh – And they washed Troopie – She hasn’t been so shiny in ages !
It was dark by now, and we were exhausted, so we
literally drove in, set up the van, and went straight to bed. A long hard day on our feet, but we seem to
have fixed the suspension problem, and got an oil change done as well, so we
now don’t have to worry about that side of things again until we get to
Santiago.
Asleep in the pub? Excusable in the circumstances I think ! You are certainly getting exceptional service from the Toyota dealers on your trip....you might need to pass this customer service on to Grand Motors on the Gold Coast !!
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