Bill writes from Cusco

We arrived in Cusco from Chiclayo via Lima yesterday and what a beautiful city up in the hills.  It is situated at 3,400 meters or 11,150 feet if you prefer. Elevation sickness is a concern and they suggest you leave Cusco to a place of a little lower elevation nearby upon your arrival for a few days and of course we didn't. We are taking medication to deal with altitude sickness and have been quite lucky. We may have some minor symptoms but we are doing fine. We aren't even sure they are symptoms but we aren't taking any chances. We are taking it slow as recommended. Tomorrow we will likely go out for a small hike-nothing too strenuous. Cusco is worth seeing and there are lots of things to do and see in a very old and clean city. We aren't able to compare prices here to other places in Peru but accept that prices are higher but not extremely so, we think.

As you probably all know in Medellin I lost my merino wool top I planned to use as a middle layer when hiking. We were unable to find any merino wool items other than socks in any of the numerous stores in Cusco or any of the other places we have been.  The one I lost cost in excess of $200 so I was prepared to pay again some exorbitant amount for a replacement. All we could find was polyester until we went to a local market where I was able to purchase an alpaca sweater that will do the job very well and being alpaca wool I expected it to cost quite a bit. It cost 38 Sols which is less than $10. Now that is a bargain without any haggling. It also looks pretty good and will be something I will wear when we get home

It is sunny and warm in Cusco during the day but cool at night. We were told it does not rain a lot  but there was a short hail storm after our arrival to welcome us to this sacred area. Our hotel and we expect most buildings and homes to be the same has no source of heat. Our hotel by our standards and I think by most people's standards is quite nice. But most importantly we have hot water. Tonight we will take some of the blankets off our bed when getting ready to sleep. There is a significant weight to the blankets making it difficult to sleep.

On Tuesday next we will start our climb and we are both very excited. It is something I have wanted to do for about 20 years and it will be a completion of one of those bucket list things. It is safe other than some aches and pains and we will have guides and porters so we go looking forward to the experience with eyes wide open.

Love and best wishes to you all


Sent from my iPad

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saari

Image
Sri Lankan women wear saaris. They wear other things too. Sinhalese women either wear saaris or skirts and blouses. Tamil women wear saaris and unmarried Tamil women wear salwaar kemeez. A few women wear slacks. All professional women wear saaris. As I give formal presentations in my work, I decided to purchase myself a saari At the Saari store, I selected the fabric I loved. It was tan coloured silk blend with blue, green and apricot accents. I also purchased two stretchy tank tops that are worn with a Saari. Saari fabric is sold in such a length allowing for one end to be cut off and used as fabric for a saari blouse. The salesman measured me up for the blouse. A couple days later, when the blouse was ready, the salesman phoned and Bill picked it up for me. I tried it on. First, I put it on backwards. Then realizing my error, I tried it on front ways. The darts in the blouse sharpened my breasts into cone shaped points. I had noticed women about town with sharply poi
Read more

My work

Image
Handing over curriculum and books to Sri Jayawardenapura University Mental Health Training Organizational Development for Shanthiham I have had requests to write more about my work. I find it difficult due to the highly sensitive nature of the work and the usual limits of confidentiality. However, I will try to give some generalities. Many jobs or tasks arose based on my initial assessment of the organization and the needs of the community/district/province. My work was and is not assigned, but rather based on this assessment and determining where my skill set can be used to fill in some of the gaps. Job One : Train the nine member trauma team in group therapy, build their clinical skills, and develop their capacity to work with victims of torture, trauma and ex-combatants. Job Two : Train a six member community team in group therapy, build their clinical skills to work with families of the "disappeared", war widows, the displaced, and the mentally ill.
Read more

Knuckles Range

Image
Deep in the interior of Sri Lanka is a mountain range named Knuckles Range. This moniker, given by early British surveyors to the area, is so named as it closely resembles the clenched fist of a giant man. Knuckles Range is a UNESCO Heritage Site due to the flora and fauna found there; some species are endemic and not seen anywhere else in the world. April 12 and 13 th are the Tamil and Sinhala New Years and as the dates landed on a Thursday/Friday, a nice long weekend was created that allowed us to travel (a long and dirty bus ride) to the Kandy District in order to hike the Knuckles Range with a guide. Another VSO volunteer, Marjorie was with Bill and me. Day 1: Two hours driving into the Knuckles region in 4x4 Safari Jeep: 5 hours of hiking to base camp. Day 2: 8 hours of hiking to the caves; camp out. Porters carrying food, tents, sleeping bags. Day 3: 8 hours of hiking to home stay in the Knuckles Day 4: 4 hours of hiking to the rarely seen falls: only 3 other foreigne
Read more