What a Getaway, what a Challenge!

Historically rich Cuzco (also “Cusco”, or “Qosqo” in Quechua) took my breath away, both through its aesthetics and high altitude, the effects of which hit me within hours of my flight arrival.

Tourists are prone to undergo altitude sickness and experience different symptoms upon their arrival to the town, often immediately and sometimes a few days later. I have sky dived as high as 10,000 feet high but never experienced altitude sickness. My BIGGEST tip when traveling to Cuzco is to prepare yourself or have some readily available remedy to avoid this kind of experience.  Altitude became my newly found enemy whilst water and coca tea became my best friends.  And in my case, I needed a lot of these two. But personally, the altitude sickness couldn’t keep me away from this beautiful town.  Cuzco evokes a unique and charming sensation.

Cuzco houses the Peru’s Challenge, a Peruvian-based not-for-profit organization that partners with rural communities in order to improve each community’s standard of living and ultimately develop sustainable communities in Peru.  Through its volunteer pool, Peru’s Challenge has improved the health, education and general living standards of children and communities living in the Andes of Peru.

For the month of January, I am one of the 4 volunteers who made a commitment to make a difference to the community.   As a volunteer, I will be tasked to dedicate around 25-30 hours per week at a designated placement.  The rest of the time will be spent to enjoy and explore the awe-inspiring and breathtaking Cuzco.

For more details and information on Peru’s Challenge, go to www.peruschallenge.com

Monday, the 3rd of January, my Peruvian adventure began upon my arrival at Cuzco Airport; I suddenly felt out of breath.  I felt like I was being pulled by a strong gravity as I was lifting my suitcase into the trolley. I was so glad to see Gerry Clayton, Peru’s Challenge Volunteer Manager, who assisted me in pushing the trolley filled with my luggage. The volunteer house is about 10 minutes by car from the airport.  The house is located in a town called Larapa, a nice neighborhood within the University district. Gerry showed me my room as soon as we arrived to the volunteer house.

My room is akin to a granny’s flat. The volunteer house is a 2-storey with 1 office room, 4 bathrooms, 3 kitchen areas, 3 spacious living areas and 10 bedrooms. It can accommodate 22 volunteers comfortably.  On the ground level is another room, the in-house travel office, Ultimate Tours. The house is accessible to everything from convenient stores, bakery, pharmacy, gym, laundry, hair salon, clinic and even hospital.

After settling into my room, we had a tour of the house. I was introduced to Kerryn, an Australian and an ex volunteer, who was busy doing her last minute laundry chores.  She was bound for Bolivia that night.  I was also introduced to Santuza, the housekeeper.

Santuza’s job is basically to keep the place tidy and clean. All volunteers are expected to share the domestic tasks such as cooking, cleaning the accommodation, going shopping or doing the dishes. Gerry told me that Santuza cooks up a feast for a day for the volunteers and also makes the best cake.

Gerry took me downtown for lunch, which is a 20-minute cab ride from the volunteer house and costs between 5-8 Soles (around USD 2-3). It is always best to negotiate the rate with the driver before entering the cab. The cheaper option, however is to take the combi van (also known as collectivo) for 70 centavos.  There are 2 combi van services: ‘Rapidoand Batman’  and both travel between Larapa and downtown.  ‘Rapido’ meaning rapid in English is the quickest of public transport services.

We opted for the taxi since it was about to rain and it was also almost mid afternoon, which was way too late for lunch. Here are other useful tips I gathered during this brief escapade: make sure to keep small notes as some taxis do not carry much change; ripped or old notes are not widely acceptable; and some restaurants accept USD currencies.

Our first stop was Plaza de Armas – a love at first sight destination and simply breathtaking.  Trudging along its cobble-stoned alleys and sitting in the middle of the square were my favorite things.  The plaza portrays a true representation of the history with its well-preserved colonial architecture. Although I was in my weakest condition, I could not help but to walk around the square until I finally had to rest.

A few minutes later, we continued to strut through Calle Triunfo and finally reached Jack’s Café to have my late lunch.  Jack’s Cafe is located in the corner of Choquechaca 188 and is one of the most frequented restaurants by tourists.  It is a cozy place and the service and food are fantastic.   The place is also known for its big breakfast serving.

Right after lunch, we decided to head back to the volunteer house and I went to bed and fell into one of my deepest sleeps.  I was awakened the following day, Tuesday, 4th of January at 6.30am,  by the sound of the first plane flying over the house.

That morning, I met Jamie and Ilana, both from Australia who were on their honeymoon in the house. Both have decided to do volunteer work and take part in Peru’s Challenge.  Jamie did some film work 4 years ago for Getaway. There is no doubt why he would spend his honeymoon here in Cuzco.
Wednesday, 5th of January was an exciting day for me. I had an opportunity to do an ocular visit with Jamie and Ilana to Pumamarca School, Peru’s Challenge’s very first rehabilitated school, from start to finish.

Pumamarca is a rural mountain village outside Cuzco and 20 minutes by car from the volunteer house.  It is a very deprived community with limited social services.  Prior to the Peru’s Challenge, the community did not have a local primary school due to lack of funds and the lack of support from the Department of Education in Peru  to support such an infrastructure. The community was apparently left  to support for itself.

The drive from the house was rugged and bumpy but the view halfway to the school was spectacular.  It was overlooking a range of gorges and mountains, and beautiful, lush farmlands.

The school recently took its summer recess so only half of the students were present. When we got to the school Gerry introduced us to Edgar, the School Director.  We then proceeded to the kids’ classrooms and were introduced to Linda, the teacher for Grades 3 & 4 classes. I could see from afar how excited and cheerful the kids were when they saw us approaching to their room, and when we get to their classroom, they greeted us in unison ‘Bienvenidos Amigos’ (Welcome, Friends) with much warmth and enthusiasm.  Gerry then introduced each one of us to the pupils. After our brief introduction, the kids one by one stood up and excitingly introduced themselves –  some in Spanish and others in English.  Gerry then went around the class giving everyone a “high five.”  They love this sort of greeting and few screamed for the double high five.  I left the classroom feeling both uplifted and fulfilled. The smiles and happy faces were priceless! Those cheerful faces evidently prove that ‘there is more to life’ – what an inspiration!

At 12.00 pm we took part in their Physical Education (P.E.) activities.  We started with some ball games, then ropes.  The boys loved ballgames whilst the girls enjoyed jumping-rope. Both boys and girls finished off the activity with a tug of war.  It was a great day for the kids.   The kids obviously love P.E. Just before 1.00 pm, all of us gathered in a spot where the kids could wash their hands before and after their lunch break.

One of the areas that the Peru’s Challenge volunteers teach the kids is the importance of proper hygiene. This is something that many rural villagers are unaware of. This is the routine I have observed from the kids: we offer them soap gel before they wash their hands, and they came back to us for hand towels to dry their hands. The team also offered sarbolene cream to moisturize their hands.  I have also observed that the kids love to wash their faces and put lots of cream on their face.  At the end of the daily routine, we gave each kid a banana.

We left the school at 1.30 pm to head back to the volunteer house for lunch.  After lunch, I met the lovely Liliana, my Spanish teacher  at the volunteer house, and had my first Spanish lesson (which is provided to all volunteers).

On Thursday, the 6th of January, I started my day at 6:30 am to go with Gerry to the closest supermarket. The place is a 10-minute walk from the house. I bought ingredients for Santuza to cook lunch and also ingredients for her famous delicious cake.  Food groceries are relatively cheap in Cuzco.

At around 10 am Jamie and Ilana arrived at the volunteer house.  We decided to go to El Molino market to get materials that we needed for the art class planned for the next day.  At El Molino you can basically get anything and everything you want. Jamie got a mega size gorilla stuffed toy that he plans to donate to the newly built library.  He anticipates that the kids will be super excited when they see the stuffed toy as he was already getting a lot of attention from the kids as we were leaving the market.  It was so massive that it occupied the whole boot space of the station wagon taxi.

One of the highlights of the day was to savor Santuza’s cooking.  She made a pasta dish with chicken and vegetables. It was delicious and exactly the type of carbohydrates that I needed for an early stage of altitude sickness.  As expected, the last course was the famous cake. She made a carrot cake, which was absolutely divine.  Mucho bueno Santuza!

Washing the dishes is one of my shared chores.  Dish-washing is a bit of a performance at the volunteer house.  First I had to rinse the dishes; then place them into a big plastic washing tub.  I then had to boil some water enough to fill up the tub with all the dishes in it and then add the washing detergent.  From the tub, I had to wash the dishes and place them in the dish tray where I could then pour boiling water for the final rinsing.  It was an ordeal but hygienically important as the water in Cuzco is not potable.  Needless to say, I have only been drinking bottled water since I got to Cuzco.

Friday, the 7th of January was another exciting day for the kids and us:  the art class. For the art class, we decided to make hats out from a hard cardboard for the kids to paint on using an acrylic paint.  Jamie and Gerry were assigned to do the cutting of the base of the hat using a cake tin to form it.  Illana and I were assigned to form the head of the hat.

So the fun began!  We had 45 kids gathered together in one room to make their first ever paper hats.  The kids were told to first paint the headpiece of the hat.   Once all the headpieces were painted, the kids then lined up to have the edge of the headpiece trimmed.  This was the part of the production making where I realized that few of the painted pieces were painted right on the bottom page which unfortunately I had to cut.  Of course, that was not something we had thought of.  Ooops sorry kids!

Jamie then took over the production line that I was assigned to and started stapling the edges and the base piece of the hat together.  Gerry then took over Jamie’s task in putting together the end of the headpiece using a sticky tape.  Ilana got the last step to complete the production and attached the string to ensure it was intact when put on.

We certainly had fun doing it and the kids absolutely loved it. It was the cleaning part that was not fun at all.  It was simply a mess – color paints and paint brushes scattered everywhere.  It was fulfilling for us though as we watched everyone leaving the school with a cheerful face as they tried their hats on. And you see the excitement on their faces and the anticipation of getting home to proudly show them off to their parents and siblings.

It was a long day for me following another 2 hours session of Spanish Class in the afternoon. It was also Jamie & Ilana’s last night so we all met up along with Jane Gavel & Selvy Ugaz, founders of Peru’s Challenge for dinner at Cicciolinas. Cicciolinas is the most frequently visited restaurant in Cuzco for its amazing Peruvian foods at an affordable price.  The restaurant is owned by a Melbournian, who has been living in Cuzco for many years.  The main dining area is the best part of the restaurant where all walls are painted in hot red and huge art pieces displayed all over the walls. The paintings were painted by the owner herself.

I met Alex and Mark, the other 2 volunteers who arrived on the morning of the 8th of January.  They are both from US, but Alex currently lives and works in Buenos Aires.  Both of them heard about Peru’s Challenge through the New York Times under the travel section.  Gerry brought us all together for a quick briefing.  He basically covered certain rules applied to the house and tips in getting around Cuzco.  We all then went to town by Batman combi to have lunch at Jack’s Café.  After lunch, we walked up to a hill to go to Plaza de San Blas. It was a pretty steep walk with very narrow walk path:  equivalent of an hour work out for me.   I was pleased that I slowly forced myself to be there, as it was another hidden gem in the city of Cuzco.  I could sit all day in the middle of the square facing the fountain with the mountains as the backdrop. I enjoyed gazing at people roaming around the square as I listened to the music in the background and as I felt the sun touching my face. The market was on where you can buy some native Peruvian crafts.

On our way back to the Plaza de Armas, we stopped at the Coca Shop, a small charming place where you can try all sorts of products like chocolates made from coca. Coca is believed to be the  best remedy for altitude sickness. Afterwards, we walked back to the square to have a good look around before meeting up with Mark who was at Paddy’s Bar. Paddy’s Bar is  considered to be the highest Irish-owned pub in the world.

Sunday, 9th of January is popularly known as the market day.  Gerry and myself along with Mark, Alex and Brenton (ex Volunteer from Australia) all went to Tankarniyoc Fresh Market, where you can buy all sorts of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and meat etc.  I then returned in a taxi on my own along with everyone’s purchases as the rest gone for a trek to ‘Sexy Woman’ (more info on this on my next article).

A group of us culminated the end of the week with a sumptuous dinner at the La Pronta Pastipizza. Rachel, ex-volunteer who is Brenton’s sister and Vanessa, another Australian and volunteer joining us for the month of January, joined us in. Vanessa has been in Peru since early December.

In my next article, the real Peru’s Challenge begins.

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