Incoming Friendlies

We both woke up feeling normal, the benefit of a decent workout the day before. We had a relaxed morning before chilling out and watching Zodiac on Netflix.  The Sissons and Laws arrived around 6; a real pleasure to catch up with friends from home.  

We headed into town for some Pisco Sours and then a cheap meal.  We spent the next day exploring more of Cusco with our enthusiastic new arrivals.  We walked up to San Cristobal for a look around the church.  Again we were amazed at the glitz.  We climbed the bell tower for a great view of Cusco – took all my willpower to not tug on the bell ropes!  We then stopped in a local market for some incredible fruit juices and some lunch – Daryl was disappointed he could not find the horses heads he had read about.

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The healthy tourists headed off for some massages while Daryl, Deryn and myself headed to a bar for some Pisco Sours and some cards.  The massaged trio joined us before we headed off for a meal at a cool restaurant in the bohemian district of Cusco, just behind San Blas.  We arrived at the restaurant at 7.25 for our 7pm booking to be told our table was gone.  It was then simply a matter of waiting in the bar until another booking was more than 10 minutes later after which we could take their table. The highlight of the evening was the trout and the harp.  We kicked on a bit when we got back to hostel with myself and Daryl giving life lessons to a 23 year old Dane called Andreas who wondered into our orbit. 

We had arrange a minibus and guide to take us on a tour of the Sacred Valley the following day.  The tour started with a visit to a weaving shop in Chinchero which we were shown how Alpaca and llama wool is spun and dyed into the incredibly coloured garments, all done using natural ingredients. Of course a collection of scarves, beanies and socks were purchased.  We then walked around some Inca ruins and given a historical tour by Loosa, our guide.  The Inca’s were amazing how they used terraces to grow corn in an environment where historically corn could not be grown.  

Next it was an all you could eat lunch before moving onto the Ollantaytambo ruins. Again the incredible sophistication of the Inca’s were evident – in both the scale of their buildings but also how the harnessed the natural environment for their benefit. Ollantaytambo looked a really cool little village, just a bit of a shame it was overrun by hordes of tourists. 

We finished off our tour with a visit to hilltop Inca Citadel in Pisac.  We were all a bit road weary by this point and needed to be back in Cusco for our 7 pm booking at Chicha.  The terraces were incredible but unfortunately we did not get the chance to explore the hilltop ruins.  While we enjoyed the day, we all felt we spent too much time in the van driving from A to B to C.  The meal was great – the wines were pricey though.  Rest day tomorrow before we head off on our Salkantay Trek.

And to finish with a dog. This time with a friend.