Days 37-39, Wrapping up Cuzco

The Following takes place between Monday, January 3 and Wednesday, January 5, 2011

After the 80kms + that i had walked on the Salkantay trek, much like after the Colca Canyon, I had no desire to do much else but relax. Though, considering how much I had walked, and how late I got back to the hostel(12:30am), I surprised myself with how late I ended up staying up(2:30am). Maybe laying in an actual bed was so relaxing that I was too relaxed to sleep.

Or something like that.

Either way, the last three days I spent in Cuzco were relatively relaxing compared to the previous five.

I started my first day back by sleeping in until noon. My god that felt amazing. And incredibly lazy. I really had nothing planned anyways besides going for lunch with Denise and Flavio.

I met the two of them in the main Plaza and we went in search of a good vegetarian restaurant. We ended up settling on a Japanese restaurant. The lunch was great and it was nice to see each other after having a shower and wearing clean clothes. Afterwards, we wandered a few of the markets window shopping.

Now, a little thing about Cuzco. Everywhere you go, and I mean that literally, you are bombarded by touts. No where else I have been thus far have I been confronted by the touts selling everything from toques, scarves, paintings, sweaters(“It baby alpaca. You like. You buy. You buy for girlfriend”), knitted bracelets, and massages. Yes, massages.

I only seem to see the massage touts go after the guys on the street(surprise, surprise). The main selling point for a lot of them “It good massage. Two girls for you, one massage. Good price. Come on, you want. You need the girls.”

Anyways, after the five day hike, I decided to give in and get a massage. For less than C$12 I got a full hour. And with only one girl(thank goodness). I had never had a massage before, so I was a bit  . . . hesitant . . . when I was told to strip down to my undies and lay on the table. Besides a little “Oh my!” moment when my undies were pulled down and my buttocks were massaged(Is that normal??) the massage was wonderful.

That night, I once again met up with Denise and Flavio for supper at a pizzeria. No matter how much I begged though, I couldn’t convince them to come out to a nightclub with me. So, after bidding them adieu, I headed back to the hostel. In my dorm room, four Argentinians had settled in. One, Juan Maria, invited me out to the clubs with them. I didn’t really have to think twice(especially after seeing Eduardo).

The night was awesome. We bar hopped in the Plaza, getting coupons for free drinks at every bar we went(it’s their way of getting people into their establishment). At one bar, we walked in just as a Salsa Rueda was going on. Sadly, that was the last Rueda they did that night(sad face). We ended up staying at a club called Mythology for the rest of the night.

The next morning, after the Argentinians left for Machu Picchu, I went down to check out a few museums as it was the last day for my Tourist Ticket. The museums were . . . ok. I wasn’t entirely impressed. Maybe I’m starting to tire of museums because, really, how many images of the Virgin Mary does one need to see. They all start to look the same after a little while.

At least one museum had something a bit different. . .

And in another case of “Man, it’s a small world,” while walking down the street towards another museum, I run into Denise again. I abandon the museum idea when she mentions a place with homemade ice cream. That’s really all I needed.

Once again, after catching up with Flavio at the digital photo print shop, we went browsing in the markets. I ended up buying another necklace for myself to add to the one I got from my friend Derek back in Saskatoon. With some sad goodbyes we hugged and promised to email each other.

Wednesday became another really boring day. I once again headed downtown, this time with the express goal of getting a shave. I didn’t shave at all during Salkantay and by now it has become a nice thick bush. Too thick for my little Mach 3 razor to cut through. So off the to barber shop I go for my very first shave with a straight razor. It was an interesting experience and felt absolutely amazing. I’m clean shaven again!

As I wandered the streets, the convent that the pit stop for the Amazing Race was finally open so I stolled in and looked around. It may be an odd reason to see a place, the fact that it was a part of a TV show that I love, but I don’t really care. I’m sure there are sillier reasons to see a place.

I stopped off at a tourist agency afterwards and within a few minutes had a ticket for a morning bus to Puno. With that in hand, I headed back to the hostel where I packed and spent the rest of the evening going over my pictures and listening to the gold medal game between Canada and Russia at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

We’ll just ignore what happened during the third period.