After a restless night with Salvador and his cold, I was called into the café this morning to cover for Ali.
She had an appointment with Saul at the hospital.
The sequence for securing an appointment is as follows;
Go to hospital at 3am :
Queue up :
Wait :
Get appointment (if you’re lucky) :
Go back for appointment at given time :
Pay for appointment :
See Doctor -


The NHS in Britain should at times be better than it is, however when it is described as a third world service it shows a complete ignorance of what the third world has to contend with.
Since we’ve been back I’ve noticed that we are getting a lot more local Peruvian trade in Moni than before, which is excellent.
I am particularly pleased as there are foreign owned businesses in Cusco that actively discourage Peruvian custom.
This sends out the message to the population that they are not welcome in any tourist based business.
Imagine being banned from restaurants, clubs and bars in your own country.
I will never forget the rage I felt when Esther and her friends were denied entry to ‘Los Perros’ a popular Gringo bar near the Plaza de Armas.
Over the past couple of years a few businesses in Cusco have been taken to court of this type of discrimination but nothing seems to change.
Because Salvador’s not been well, I’m down to my last few clothes and had to put on my old Tucan Travel sweatshirt for the first time in years today.
As I left the café I heard a voice shout ‘Michael’, it was Rod the tour guide from my first trip to South America, he’s now working permanently in Cusco with Peeky as his boss. Cusco and coincidences.