Odds and ends
Just wanted to let you know about some of the odd things we've seen or heard and noticed in this country, and the several cities we've been in so far.
Garbage trucks play music that sounds like ice cream trucks (remember that tinkling song that would alert you that the ice cream truck was coming down your street?)
Nearly all houses of any worth have red tile roofs (especially in Cusco and the Sacred Valley) - do you know how expensive that is in the States?
It's almost a game for drivers to see who can honk first when the light turns green - literally, the instant the light turns, several cars behind the first one honk (thus, the cities are quite noisy).
There are speed bumps in EVERY town, no matter how tiny - usually at the entrance and exit to the town, but all throughout the streets also. Thus, everyone slows down to a crawl, and then it's a mad dash to pass the trucks or buses as they try to speed up after that.
Cusco was horrible with hawkers for all the restaurants, but the worst were the "massage, lady?" - at least 3 or 4 per block.
Selfies and posers for pictures in narrow walkways have become like gnats or flies to us. Most are very rude and inconsiderate/totally oblivious of others. They really ruined Machu Picchu for me, and others in our group, seeming to be very disrespectful of the surroundings. Steve has taken to barging through their posing, if possible. On that note, here are a few pictures that we have either have taken of us, or tried selfies, in the last month:
Sunset over the desert at Huacachina (dune buggy ride)
In the courtyard of Tacama, the winery outside of Arequipa
On Taquille Island in Lake Titicaca
Closing with the lights of Cusco, from a bar atop our neighborhood:
