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In our last week in Cusco we got busy cleaning up Winnietwo to get him ready for storage. We were almost done with the cleaning, when Kirsten noticed that one of the back tyres was losing air. Winnietwo is going to be stored for a long time here in Cusco and so we are forced to change the tyre – our first time ... we've never changed one before!!!
We'd already noticed a screw stuck in the tyre in Ecuador, but for some reason it had never lost air ... until now! We have two spare tyres but they are heavy and not easy to get off. When we bought Winnietwo from Steffen and his family he taught us how to change tyres but that was 7 years ago!
Fortunately it's not rocket science and with the help of some of the other campers here we manage quite well. We handed in all the paperwork to the customs and moved into an apartment near the main square for our last 3 days.
We were still in Cusco when Australia and Peru were playing in the final Play Offs to get to the World Cup in Qatar 2022. Australia qualified by beating United Arab Emirates in a nail biting 2-1 natch. They now play Peru who finished 5th in the South American World Cup group. The winner goes to the world cup that starts on 21st November 2022 so there is everything to play for!! A public holiday has been announced by the Peruvian government, anticipating that much of the country will be keenly following the game that kicks off at 1pm Peru time.
The only previous game the two countries have played against each other was in the 2018 World Cup in Russia where Peru won 2-0. Peru is ranked 22 in the world and Australia is at 42. So before the match, most football commentators lauded Peru as the better team and had low expectations of Australia, which struggled in the Asian qualifiers.
There is a huge public viewing screen set up at the Plaza de Armas and we can feel the excitement of the fans ... being football aficionados ourselves. But ... for some reason there are technical problems to get the huge screen going. It's already one o'clock and the national anthems should be being played. We were hoping to hear thousands of Peruvians singing along ... a very emotional moment for football fans all around the world ... but nothing! Along with all the others we wait and wait and eventually decide to walk through the streets to see if there are any other screens showing the match.
In and outside every restaurant, café and shop the people are glued to the monitors but the game is really boring ... no action from either team ... and so we enjoy the nice weather, do some of our shopping and then return to the apartment. Australia won on penalties! The rest of the match was boring!! I think the whole of Peru was in shock!
We also happened to be in Cusco in June - the official month for celebrations with impressive parades. Thousands of people flock to the streets almost every day to watch dozens of groups performing traditional dances from the region in their colourful Andean costumes. The week ends with one of the largest celebrations in Peru - Corpus Christi - a massive parade where 15 saints and virgins are carried around the main squares of Cusco.
