approaching the pass at ancaschoca - you can see the narrow inca trail with hundreds of metres of drop below.

arie resting on ichu grass half way up to the pass

senora in the community of ancascocha

on the return from ancascocha, i walked down the traditional inca trail. i was a walk down memory lane, from my first week in cusco, my first real hiking experience - how things change~

One moment I was in the green, lush bubble that is Walpole and some 30 hours later I emerged shell shocked into another world - but one that is just as familiar and special. From the first person I saw at Lima airport (an ex-employer) to my Peruvian family waiting at Cusco airport, to the ladies who sold me bananas on the street, I was arriving home to a community that had been very special to me.

With typical Andean reservation and disinterest I got a smile and the acknowledgement It had been a long time since I'd seen them. They don't ask “where have you been, or what have you been doing? – I'm sure it's because they live in this moment and nothing more. My friends in the ex-pat community have asked those questions about “what are you doing here?” along with effusive, powerful hugs… it's an interesting contrast between two cultures.

I thought would be missing Walpole … but being in Cusco is just like coming home – its really weird, nothing much has changed. Everywhere I turn there are people I know and so far it's been a huge social whirl catching up with people… And of course nearly everything is celebrated by drinking beer – which is fine except they come in 1100mL bottles which means that even a ´couple´ beers is a lot of beer!!!

I'm living with my Peruvian family – Hilda and her partner as well as two teenage nieces and a pet dog in a two room apartment. It could be noisy and crowded but after five years of such experiences in Peru I find I am used to sharing my space and I quite like the constant chatter. When there is no water (at all) for four days (which DOES put a strain on toilet and washing facilities) I remember what it is like to have shortages and how you survive. So much for a third world electricity supply in Walpole… try going without water for four days when you share a toilet with ten or so people (our family plus another!).

One of the nieces – Marielva is nineteen and though she ´lives´ in the apartment in reality she works from 7.30am to 10pm and studies as well. She does this with a cheerfulness, 7 days a week that I cannot comprehend. You can imagine her excitement when she got told to shut up shop early so we (the family) could attend the rock concert of Gian Marco , Peru 's number one star – thousands of people under clear crisp Cusco skies – an awesome event. What interested me most was his patriotic songs in Quechua (the language of the Incas) at the end of the concert, waving the rainbow coloured flag of Tahuantinsuyo (the Inca Empire's flag) as well as the red and white flag of Peru.

Everywhere I turn there is pride in their nation – in the last month it has been the America cup (Soccer). For a week straight I dutifully watch every game with friends and family until Peru is eliminated in the semi final. Though the soccer loss is treated as a national tragedy, at the same time Machu Picchu is also voted as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World . The announcement is greeted with dancing and drinking and a live concert in the Plaza de Armas – they celebrate their history, being Peruvian and also the perceived gains in tourism that the announcement will bring.

Several days later the country is crippled by strikes. This means Cusco (plus half the country) is completely paralysed and there is no transport for the whole day. If someone takes their car on the road it will get stoned and the roads are covered with big rocks and oil to make driving more hazardous than usual! I kind of like strike days - it means that everyone takes a holiday – in a country where people work such long hours it's nice. You see families out walking the streets and my ‘family' and I “pasear” ( a verb meaning to stroll/walk for enjoyment that we don't have in English) to see what is happening with the strikers and protestors.

As a political aside they are protesting against the rising cost of living, which has been increasing since the government of Alan Garcia was elected last year. The humorous part is that they elected Alan at all – he was president from 1980-1985 and oversaw the economy ´s collapse and hyperinflation of 10,000%. He ended up fleeing the country after a coup and living in France with millions of public funds until he returned to be re-elected!

While Cusco has returned to normal after the strikes here, many other parts of the country have not and there is a general concern at the levels of violence and that the country appears to be on the verge of something big.

It's taken five years of contact with Peru , sometimes emotional and frustrating, perplexing most of the time – to even begin to understand what is going on. However, the curious thing is that finally the illogical makes sense to me or at least I understand why things occur as they do. Once I yearned to be Peruvian, to fit in or to be one of them. My 18 months in Walpole made me realise that I love being Australian and that in Peru I fit in best as a ´gringa´ who has a Peruvian family.

I'd had grand plans for this holiday to be full of adventures and I started out well with a three day hike to Ancascocha to a height of 4600 metres…. The trek was intended to be a quick way of getting fit (ie just jump in the deep end) but I'd forgotten how hard it was to hike at altitude. On the first day, where we ascended over 1000 metres in about 6 hours turned out to be bloody hard… imagine Ariana sitting on rocks wailing “I can't go any further…” Still I survived and so another trek or two and I should be able to then do some mountain climbing.

See Ancascocha trek webpage for more pics from this trek.

On my arrival in Peru , I'd escaped the hustle and bustle of Lima 's streets by resting in the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa de Lima, the patron saint of the Americas . There is a wishing well there where people write wishes on paper and then drop them into the well. Starting my holiday with wishes like this, it seemed inevitable that it's going to be a holiday with lots of religious fiestas – the next email will include a trip to the much venerated Virgin del Carmen.

on the gokarts with nicolle

the beautiful plaza de armas de cusco

the cathedral in lima

with fely and hilda (left) and zulena and martha (cousins) during zulena´s birthday party

Hilda and Nicolle the day that Fely made chicharrones (deep fried pork served with mint lleaves, aji (green hot sauce), potatoes and onion) for a family dinner

day of the strike a lady in cusco´s traditional red poncho and the flag of tahuantinsuyo (flag of the Incas) with a sign that says... "wake up peruvians, this is not investment, this is an invasion of chilenao. cusco defend yourself."

Copyright Ariana Svenson, 2005 - Comments and enquiries, please email us.