Cuzco Christmas
Time flew by and we realized we spending Christmas in Cuzco. It's not just that we forgot to buy our bus tickets out of town. The truth is we spent the last couple of days typing up our notes from the jungle. Didn't really want to bring out the laptop in the canoe.
Here Christmas is quite low key. The biggest event we discovered was once again... Yes you guessed it. The market the day before Christmas.
We knew we shouldn't, but we went and didn´t get away without purchasing several cool items. For Shurik we bought the shirt that you can in the pictures along with it's maker. The shirt itself was made by a young woman named Melinda Cross, who makes the shirts herself and then brings them into a community in an indigenous village where women do the stitch work. Sorry it's only a partial shot, but we were packed in there like sardines in a box. We also bought a shirt for me that cost significantly less than Shurik's. When we got back to our room we discovered why: the tag on the shirt said it was made in Nepal! Very native.
Passing by the many Artisan jewelry stand, I couldn't help myself and bought a bracelet, first making sure that the maker was also the salesman. I quite enjoy knowing that I actually get to meet the people who make the pieces we buy. Actually, I got back to the same guy, Ick from Huaraz, and brought him the teeth from the piranha that Shurik fished in the jungle. For another $6 Ick added some beads and seeds, and in no time I had a very authentic necklace on my neck.
Evening came, and we ended up drinking in the company of an Argentinian couple we met the day before. Very cool people. Cristian owns a small clothing factory, and Manuella is an environmental TV journalist. They invited us to stay with them when we get to Buenos Aieres, and we just might take them up on their offer.
Our last Christmas treat was this morning. We were taking a walk after breakfast, contemplating our next step, when we saw some sort of a very colorful procession complete with costumes, dancing, and singing. Enjoy.
Here Christmas is quite low key. The biggest event we discovered was once again... Yes you guessed it. The market the day before Christmas.
We knew we shouldn't, but we went and didn´t get away without purchasing several cool items. For Shurik we bought the shirt that you can in the pictures along with it's maker. The shirt itself was made by a young woman named Melinda Cross, who makes the shirts herself and then brings them into a community in an indigenous village where women do the stitch work. Sorry it's only a partial shot, but we were packed in there like sardines in a box. We also bought a shirt for me that cost significantly less than Shurik's. When we got back to our room we discovered why: the tag on the shirt said it was made in Nepal! Very native.
Passing by the many Artisan jewelry stand, I couldn't help myself and bought a bracelet, first making sure that the maker was also the salesman. I quite enjoy knowing that I actually get to meet the people who make the pieces we buy. Actually, I got back to the same guy, Ick from Huaraz, and brought him the teeth from the piranha that Shurik fished in the jungle. For another $6 Ick added some beads and seeds, and in no time I had a very authentic necklace on my neck.
Evening came, and we ended up drinking in the company of an Argentinian couple we met the day before. Very cool people. Cristian owns a small clothing factory, and Manuella is an environmental TV journalist. They invited us to stay with them when we get to Buenos Aieres, and we just might take them up on their offer.
Our last Christmas treat was this morning. We were taking a walk after breakfast, contemplating our next step, when we saw some sort of a very colorful procession complete with costumes, dancing, and singing. Enjoy.