Why Does Everything Have to Be Such a Performance?

Friday 30 April
Cusco

I had booked a bus to go to Lima on Saturday, as I had a flight on Sunday afternoon to Colombia. It was booked for midday as the journey was about 20 hours and, accounting for potential delays, I would arrive in good time.

However when I picked up the ticket it turned out that, as it was Workers’ Day on Saturday, i.e. 1st May, half the buses weren’t running and my midday bus had disappeared into a puff of worker’s solidarity. The people at the travel agency had booked me on a bus for 5.30, but that was too close to call for catching my flight. The only other option was to catch a bus at 8.00 which was frankly far too early in the morning to be civilised, but that’s all I had.

In the evening I met up with an English guy from my room. We set out to find an Indian restaurant somewhere on the edge of the centre of town. We knew the road and how to get there but didn’t have the full address. Plus the house numbering system in Cusco was a bit erratic (not as confusing as in Colombia, but that’s another story). The road the restaurant was on was a long road and despite walking to the edge of town and back, and asking people who sent us off in some interesting restaurant-free directions, we did find it eventually.

The curry was OK though of course nothing compared to Palace Tandoori on Fulham Palace Road – but then what does? Nothing I tell you. Nothing! I had a chat with the English guy and it turns out he’s an actor. Now there’s something I’ve noticed about actors and that is that some of them, when you’re with them for long periods, can become a little bit irritating.

It’s a bit of a cliché to say that they act (...) like everything is a show, but that’s how it comes across. It’s like they’re more interested in making an impression on you – of any sort – then just having fun and going with the flow and enjoying whatever happens. Well that was the case with this guy. He was alright at first but as the evening wore on he became just a little bit tedious.

After the curry we went out to the clubs again and I ended up going back to Mythology as I liked it so much there, and the other guy went to another place where there was free drinks. Not that it mattered too much as I wasn’t staying out late anyway as I had my bus to catch in the morning.