Cusco: San Blas Street Party

It all began with a swift whoosh and a large bang! More to follow! These deafening sounds were amplified by the fact that we were right beside the source! Why were there fireworks being set off right beneath our roof terrace? And why do they choose to explode what seems just inches above our heads? Anyway, great fun!
Today is the festival of Compadres, and is just one of the excuses for revelry in the run up to Carnival proper. The band initiated their session with loud keyboards, peculiar percussion, guitars, chimes, and a (very screechy) singer. Not that any of us could do any better! Suddenly the plaza beneath in our temporary San Blas station came to life and a mixture of locals and gringos started to dance with gusto! For a few moments it seemed compulsory to be holding a beer in the left hand whilst your dance partner's hand in the right. A reversal in road domination took place instantly as taxis were beeping and begging to pass, such a change from the usual life-or-death traffic dodging that all of us pedestrians have to do to survive the merciless here!
Everybody was happy, then they were merry. There were two particular guys, one short and middle-aged with a moustache and the other a fair bit taller and in his twenties, who were in dispute over something or other. As the younger man was being held back by two large buddies, the other was taunting him by gesturing and beating the ground; like King Kong or a sumo wrestler. When he became bored of teasing he began to approach the lad, but luckily the motherly figure of their group held him back. She was just as drunk really and when she wasn't breaking up the fight, she was sitting on the plastic stool outside their beer market, with a large grin on her face and her head tilted forwards, letting her long, long Pigtails (they would give Rapunzel a run for her money!) run to the ground.
The street stalls were selling tempting goodies such as fatty kebab skewers with a semi-boiled potato on the end, hamburgers, and rice pudding! Jon so badly wanted to try rice pudding street style, but resisted any urge due to what happened after last time he ate one that seemed a little iffy. You will, of course, know from the very first blog we wrote. Simon had a meaty kebab skewer but admitted that the potato was actually the best part.
As well as a great time at the party, we enjoyed the modest glows of dim streetlights that crawled all the way up into the mountains surrounding Cuzco as well as the illumination of just one of the curches in the Plaza de Armas.