3rd February 2013

I'm now back in La Paz after a ten blissful days in Peru. In my last blog post I was just arriving in Cusco, a truly magical city high in the Andes. My first night was spent in a small hotel next to the bus terminal where I watched one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time called Silver Linings Playbook, if you haven't watched it yet, do. This was to be pretty much the last bit of down time I'd enjoy for the rest of my stay in the land of the Incas as the next day I met with Barry a fellow scot I'd first met in Cusco a few weeks earlier. After moving to Qorichaska hostel located in the heart of the old town in the morning Barry and I headed out to sample some of the night life. I should quickly mention how fantastic this particular hostel is. It doesn't have any dorms which is most unusual for a hostel. Instead there are private rooms at very reasonable prices that radiate off two beautiful courtyards.

Fortunately Barry's knows Cusco like the back of his hand so fine hostelries were easy to find and over the weekend we were able to conduct extensive research of their individual and collective merits. We began our first night playing doubles pool and remained unbeaten for the entire night. Rather miraculous given my pool skills these days, our run was undoubtedly thanks to a combination of Barry's skills and the generally inebriated state of our opponents. A little later we found ourselves in the Wild Rover hostel (a chain of Irish owned and themed hostels across South America famed for their hedonistic ways) dressed in US naval officers outfits, or in Barry's case partially dressed in said uniform (we were one pair of trousers short so he made do with bright yellow wrestling trunks). The night ended in a nightclub called the Temple where Peruvians and gringos revelled into the early hours.

The next day we meet up with the other members of our road trip team – Hugh (aka Shuggie) and Mark (aka Reggie Baby) two Western Australians I'd met in La Paz along with Barry. We'd decided to commence our road trip on Monday which gave us Saturday and Sunday to catch up on each others adventures since last we'd met and continue our journey through Cusco's storied nightlife. We established a base of operations in Paddy's Irish bar (apparently the highest Irish bar in the world?) where we befriended a rather excellent Irish man also named Paddy and an American girl called Gina. As well as offering Guinness, whiskey, happy hours that seemed to last at least three and Gordon's gin Paddy's was also home to a rather excellent shepherd's pie (technically I'm pretty sure it was a cottage pie), nonetheless it offered essential sustenance. Vital when drinking for three days on the trot.

By Monday we were all ready to get out of Cusco and begin our trip into the Sacred valley and beyond. After a very haphazard day getting ourselves organized and renting a Toyota Land Cruiser we departed Cusco around five. Almost as soon as we'd got out of the city limits we were in some of the most spectacular landscapes I've ever known. The drive of around two hours was punctuated by various stops for camera opportunities (sadly I'd forgotten my camera charger so I wasn't able to document, although I'm sure I'll be able to purloin a few copies from the lads) as we climbed towards the mountain pass that marked the entry to the sacred valley. Our destination that night was Ollantaytambo where we arrived just after dusk to find the town shrouded in darkness thanks to a power cut. We parked up in the town square outside the Coffee Tree bar and restaurant where we were greeted by the proprietor and friend of Barry's Alex who was delighted that we were able to provide music thanks to the Land Cruiser's stereo. After a few beers and further introductions to various other friends of Barry's (Barry lived in Ollantaytambo for a couple of months) we headed to the Full Moon eco lodge on the edge of town.

The Full Moon is run by a Peruvian called Elder who warmly welcomed us and invited us to join him by the fire once we'd got settled into our rooms. We eagerly returned to the fire to take up Elder's invite, joined by our fellow guests from Chile, Peru and Argentina. Elder's fireplace was made up of sunken circular basin fashioned from stones reminiscent of the distinctive Incan style that made up the foundations of many of the grand colonial buildings found in Cusco. He sat quietly drying a drum reminiscent of a bodhran drum used in Scottish and Irish folk music he'd just made from goat skin I can only assume he slaughtered himself. He informed Barry in a soft soothing voice that the fire was for his family and he considers all men to be part of the same family. This warm and profound welcome set the tone for a magical night. Elder's array of instruments wasn't only limited to the newly dried drum, he had another larger bongo style drum and a narrow twisted didgeridoo he'd also made. To our surprise it turns out Reggie Baby is a didgeridoo player of some expertise and before I knew it Elder, Reggie, an Argentinian girl and Barry playing with a metal pipe on the stones had engulfed us all in a wonderful hypnotic jam. Conversation flowed as stories and thoughts were shared, all I must add in Spanish!