Back in Canada

Last time I returned, I wrote about the things I had missed, and the little things that returning meant to me.

This year, those things applied, but perhaps not with quite as much force.  I spent a fair amount of time at the end of my trip in Cusco Peru, not doing much, just hanging out, keeping spending low and waiting for my flight home to roll around.

I tried to spend some time walking around in the city away from the tourist zones, but ended up with a mild head cold and so did very little.  When you are not really used to the elevation, 7,200 feet does take a lot of stamina out of you.  On the other hand, even though I had a cold, when I got to Vancouver, I had a surprising amount of stamina.

The number 1 thing I brought away in the difference between Canada and Peru was what you do not see from the front.

In Peru, for the majority of the buildings, if you could not see it from the front, the walls were not finished or painted.  To my eyes, it gave a lot of the city a half-finished look.  Add in how much was brick and adobe, it left the overwhelming colour of the cities as being red-brown.  Add in the lack of green in terms of front yards and easements, it turns everything into industrial harsh.  Viewed from above, there are quite a few trees and green spots hidden away in courtyards and walled off areas which make for pleasant breaks when you find them, but from the outside reduce the atmosphere of the cities.

And as in most of the other countries, trash was very much a not-in-my-yard affair.  The empty lot next door could be knee deep in trash, but as long as your own yard was clean, that was all that counted.  This seemed to extend to roads and railways as well, in that within towns, the ditches were kept clean, but as soon as the town limit was reached, it was crystal clear because of the amount of trash that piled up on the edges.

In the coastal areas of Peru, they do make large efforts to green up parks and other areas.  All the settlements I noticed were there because of ease of access to water.  The entire coast has so little rain fall that if there is no river, there is no way to live, and they really appreciate the green of grass and trees.  Walking across lawn gets you dirty looks, sitting on the small patches of grass in a public park will soon have a peace officer making you move off it.  But due to the lack of rain, the overall feel of the coast was for light blowing sand and a lack of green.  Very much not my cup of tea.

Canada is the same as ever, and the West Coast will always have views to lift my spirit.  Time to visit friends, make some food, and tell some stories.  I will not blog much during the coming months, but they should be busy ones, and so the time will fly by.

Comments on where to go next are welcome this time, I am contemplating a run to Spain, Morocco and Crete.  Opinions?