Week 2

Ok, as we already mentioned last week, the blog is going to be in English from now on. This way, we don’t have to spend too much time on translating our magnificent adventures in Peru.

So… where to begin?

Last Saturday, we went to Cuzco on foot. It took us, more or less, two and a half hours to get there (the centre of Cuzco is approximately eleven kilometers from our apartment). Although we enjoyed the trip, the road itself wasn’t very pleasant to walk by: hundreds of incredibly polluting cars, buses and trucks passed us by every minute. At times we even found it difficult to breathe. The scenery along the way is a curious mixture of beautiful fountains and shabby houses. People seem to be working all day long, often with the help of their children. Ironically enough, we ended our afternoon reading, comfortably seated in two of Starbucks’ cozy sofas. Well yeah, who could blame us? :)

On Tuesday, we went to visit ‘el Parque Arqueológico de Tipón’. This Inca centre for the worship of water consists of numerous little waterfalls, all deriving from one ‘sacred’ spring. It was quite a hike to reach the entrance of the site, but when we saw that we were practically on our own between the colossal mountains, we were glad to have made the effort. Definitely worth it.

 

The next day we had a day off, due to a bus strike. So you see, that doesn’t only happen in Belgium! As a consequence, we had all the time in the world to do our laundry on top of our building :)

On Saturday, we went with Sadith (one of the teachers at Urpi Sonqocha) to Cuzco, to buy some new books and manuals for the children. Pretty fun to choose any book we want, without having to pay for it. Afterwards, we enjoyed the setting sun on one of Cuzco’s idyllic ‘plazas’:

Yesterday (Sunday) we had our second cooking class with Lucy. This time we made ‘salpicón de pollo’, a delicious mixture of peas, onions, carrots, corn, French fries and chicken, topped with some mayonnaise. In the afternoon we unexpectedly had to take care of the children of Urpi Sonqocha on our own. Luckily, only eight of them were present, so we managed to send each and every one of them home alive :)

Now… That’s about it! Today we’re going to go to bed early, seeing that we have to get up at 4 a.m. As most of you will already know, tomorrow we start the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu! Of course, we will take a lot of pictures and share the most remarkable ones on this blog. Instead of returning on Friday, we’ve booked an extra night in a hotel in Aguas Calientes, so that we can take our time to explore Machu Picchu and afterwards still be able to enjoy the hot springs.

So… wish us luck!

P.S. While cooking, Jasper found an onion that (according to him) ‘totally looked like a Ninja Turtle’: