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So after spending a few fun days in Arequipa it was time to descend on Cusco where we would be for 5 nights before heading off on our Inca Trail. The bus ride was overnight and relatively painless. I didn´t sleep all that well but I never really expect to. The Irish guys were on the bus as well but they had better seats than us so they slept a little better. We arrived in Cusco at 7 am and caught a cab to our hostel. We had to wait a while before check in so we grabbed some breakfast and relaxed. Chris was already there so once he woke up we headed out to see the town. The town is pretty amazing. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire (1200s-1532). Many believe that the city was planned to be shaped like a puma....pretty cool. The Plaza de Armas was definitely a highlight visually and architecturally. There are two massive churches there which were built by the Jesuits (or so I gathered by listening in on a tour guide in the plaza) that are stunning. They really give the Plaza it´s beauty. We literally did nothing but relax for the first four days there so I really have nothing exciting to write about. We did however go out on Friday night with all our Irish friends and had a blast. We met them at their hostel and watched the Lakers absolutely dismantle the Nuggets to reach the Finals which got the night started off on a good foot. From there we went to a few clubs/bars where they give you free drinks to come to their establishment. We pretty much went in, got our free drinks, and left. Not too bad. The following day everyone was feeling a bit out of it so we literally just slept. Kind of a waste of a day but those are okay every now and then. One exciting thing we did do before heading out for our Inca Trail was to go see the Inca walled complex called Sacsayhuamán. The site was located a short walk outside of Cusco and was amazing. Here´s some really cool info about it. Some believe the walls were a form of fortification, while others believe it was only used to form the head of the Puma that Sacsayhuamán along with Cuzco form when seen from above. Like much Inca stonework, there is still mystery surrounding how they were constructed. The structure is built in such a way that a single piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the limestone blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive devastating earthquakes in Cuzco. The longest of three walls is about 400 meters. They are about 6 meters tall. Estimated volume of stone is over 6,000 cubic meters. Estimates for the largest limestone block vary from 128 tons to almost 200 tons. The stone blocks really are insanely massive. I would stand next to a few of them and they towered me like I was a dwarf. It was really impressive. Really made you think how difficult it must have been to construct such a structure considering how large the rocks were. I swear ancient civilizations were a lot more intelligent then we give them credit for. The area we saw was quite massive but was only 20% of the original structure which made the size of the area even more impressive. From there we walked up an adjacent hill to see a large statue of Jesus that overlooked the whole city. The view was amazing but Jesus had a large fence around him so it made the pictures turn out pretty crappy. That was pretty much it for that exciting day. From there we were heading off next for four days on the Inca Trail ending at Machu Picchu.

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