En el ombligo del mundo - Cusco, Peru

Christine and I arrived here in Cusco, known by the Inca as the "navel of the world" and center of their outrageously huge empire at about 7:30 in the morning yesterday. I had been up for a full 24 hours at that point and was ready for nothing but a bed to crash in. After a couple hours of sleep at our hostel, I woke up and suddenly remembered I was in South America and got up to check out the town. Luckily, I didn't have to go far since there is a terrace on the roof of the hostel with a perfect view of the main plaza and the city.

There are two dominant colors here: the intense green on the mountain slopes and the ubiquitous dull red of the tiles covering every single roof top. The people here are amazing. There are groups of the tiniest old women you'v ever seen all dressed in sarapes and traditional dress at al the plazas surrounded by a totally modern populace. It's a rich contrast.

We've still only been here a short time, and it's taken a while to not just feel like I'm in Mexico again. The tiny cobbled streets leading up the mountain to our hostel, the coca tea, and constant sounds of Andean flute players have helped remind us that we are definitely somewhere else.

Our first night found us on the balcony of a little upstairs bar where we got to know the staff and some wandering Australians and the bottoms of a few glasses. After that we found a really cool restaurant where one entire wall was made up of the ancient Inca stone walls that this entuire city is built on top of. We had Alpaca steak and wine and a great time walking home through the drunken singing and sights of ou first Saturday night south of the equator.