Zoe's first Peru blog

A friend of mine uses the term `honeymoon phase´ to describe the niave awe, wonder and joy experienced when something is completely new and it may be this that I am feeling. I absolutly love this country! Casually strolling the cobblestone streets of Cusco there are many things that surprise you, children in traditional dress holding a goat and asking for a photo, stray dogs curled on the doormats of shops in the main square, evenstreets without traffic lights (athough after a week it becomes the streets WITH traffic lights that grab your attention), however where-ever you look you are greeted by the beautiful mountains in which this little city is embedded. Although some of Peru`s sights will take your breath away it is the small things that make you fall in love with Cusco. Just meters from the infamous 12 sided stone is an unassuming little road Anna has appropriately nicknamed "rainbow alley". It a street of pure vivid colour with clothes, bags, dolls and even woven hairbraids! We walk past it everyday and it never ceases to pull our attetion, so much so that during our recent treasure hunt through Cusco Katherine and I walked past the 12 sided stone four times before stopping and asking for directions - next to rainbow alley it had no chance (although I´ve heard that Tilly´s superior navagation skills had her in front of it in under a minute - unsurprisingly her team reigned victorious). This treasure hunt was a great way to get to know the history of Peru and force us to attempt to speak spanish, find our way around and grow closer as a group. With a self-mocking "Gap Yah in Perah" attitude our team (Lachlan,Katherine, Anna, Rachel and I) wore matching headbands and combed the city in search for the condor, Puma and serpant statue outside most markets said to represent the Gods (peace), the Living (power) and the dead (intelligence) and also the four layer traditional Andian cross with each layer a depiction of the four layers of existance. The hunt was just an amazing opportunity to learn the layout of the city and put our broken spanish into use.

It has surprised me that no-one has fallen ill yet - Toni fainted from altitude sickness and Nick was in bed for two days due to the same issue but there has been improbebly little illness or injury. however o the way to Saqsay Waman there was a small incident many of you may have already heard about. A stream of water was trickling through a large crack in the earth on the path we were following. Many of the Gappies took a running leap over it, that is until Bianca´s attempt. With one brave bound she landed with half a foot on the other side and toppled backwards into the muddy water. Arlich (our wonderful In-country-agent)was quick on the scene and helped Bianca emerge smiling. An immediate group effort provided her with fresh clothes and fantastic continuous-motion photos of her fall (which I hope Katherine will upload shortly). It´s strange that these are the sorts of problems that bothered me in Australia. Here thre positive and relaxed nature is infectious, every challange seems to be met with a level head and a smile. We can console ourselves with the thought that, if nothing else, it is a great memory and an even better story.

Write again soon!
- Zoe