We love going to the market

We didn't sleep very well Sunday night, so when our friends Luca and Lara invited us to go on a hike with them, we declined. Not like us to do that, but we don't want to get run down.

Instead, we stayed in the apartment, and I had a late morning nap. By lunchtime, we were ready to go out.

We have found a favorite lunch spot where they already know us by name! Our meal with a drink costs 6 soles ($2.40 CAD, $1.80 USD) each, and the waitress always has a big smile for us. Can't beat that! So we walked over there for lunch and then headed downtown.

Some kind of religious procession.

We stopped in at the post office. Ruth had bought some postcards to send back home to the grandkids and she wanted to buy some stamps and put them in the mail. But they wanted 10 soles ($3.92 CAD, $3.00 USD) to mail each one!

No thanks. We'll just bring them home with us... they will get there faster that way anyhow!

Next stop was the bank where we needed to gets some cash to pay for our accommodation.

And then to the main market. We needed to do some grocery shopping. Yes, we do this every couple of days. People here do not go to the grocery store and do a weekly shopping. There are no Walmart type of stores here. You go every day, or maybe every second day and buy fresh what you might need for the next day or two.

But we also needed to see a seamstress. There are about ten of them operating out of very tiny stalls in the market building. My Tilley shirt that I have had since 2014 was starting to wear around the collar. I wear it almost every day... it is my favorite shirt and I can't believe it has lasted that long. But, when a shirt costs $125, it had better last that long!

The seamstress had a look at it, and said "leave it with me and come back in an hour". Cost to repair? 6 soles ($2.40 CAD, $1.80 USD).

We went off to do some shopping.

Ruth, buying some chicken!

There is a street near the market where the locals spread their goods out at the side of the road.

So we're at a fruit and vegetable stand and there are a few other people buying things as well. Ruth hears the lady who owns the stand say to someone else "Americano" and wave her hand in Ruth's direction. Ruth quickly corrected her saying "no Americano... soy Canadiense" (I'm not American, I am Canadian). The lady laughed and said she wasn't talking about us, she was talking about the lettuce. They call iceberg lettuce "American" lettuce, and she was showing the other customer where it was. We all laughed.

We picked up what we needed and made our way back to the seamstress lady where my shirt was ready and waiting.

She had removed the collar, stitched the worn area as best as possible, and reversed the collar when she re-installed it.

The bad side now gets folded over and can't be seen.

And the good side looks good as new!

I am very pleased... I love that shirt!

Sunset from our bedroom window.

Can't see the mountains from our dining room window.

It rained quite a lot yesterday evening, but we have woken up to sunshine and blue sky. Good thing, because we have a tough hike planned for today with Luca and Lara. They are coming over to meet us at 8:00am and we are headed up to Laguna Ahuac to an elevation of 15,000 ft (4,600 meters). I think we are well acclimatized to the altitude now, but we have read that it's a difficult climb.

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The popular Disc-O-Bed Bunk Cots are on deal of the day today only.

And in Canada...

John Wayne Film Collection