| In Lima, I stayed at Los Delphines Hotel, which had two
dolphins in a pool. A wall of the downstairs bar formed a glass wall of
the dolphin pool so people sat at the bar, drank beer, and watched the
dolphins swimming around. This morning I arrived in Cuzco, a small town
of about 200,000 people. Local peddlers harangued me wherever I went.
Cuzco houses are made from dried red clay bricks and the roofs are red
clay shingles. From a distance, the red uniformity of the houses makes
them beautiful, but when you get close, you realize that there is nothing
in the house but a dirt floor and possibly some small pieces of furniture.
Street lamps line the streets. At night, the twinkling street lamps make
Cuzco beautiful. But again, visitors realize that the lights are only
coming from street lamps, and not many houses have any lights (not sure
if the houses have electricity). The people sit on their dark front porches
under the street lamps. Surrounding villages are more primitive (no street
lamps and no cars). You can see the people farming small plots of land,
and children herding chickens, ox, and llamas. I think the people in the
surrounding hills live in same way as their Inca ancestors, except they
are often dressed in Western clothes such as Nike or Adidas sweat pants.
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