Peru Trip (August 11th- 27th, 2012)

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Day 14: Friday, August 24th, 2012

This morning we said goodbye to the Intrepid group at Hostel Buena Vista and headed off the other hostel where we were staying that night in Cusco, Hostel Pascana (our original hostel in Cusco). Then we headed off on a city bus (which is basically a van, they leave when the van is full) to Pisac to go and explore the inca ruins. When we got to Pisac, we met a couple from the Netherlands, and we took a taxi together up to the Pisac ruins. Renata and I estimated that the ruins would take about half a hour to explore. Were we ever so wrong. The Pisac ruins are enormous. It seemed like we were walking forever, trying to find the exit. It took us about 2 hours to finally, get to the bottom of Pisac and in just in the nick of time, because I really needed to go to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, due to our poor estimation of timing, we missed our tour leaving at 2:00pm to explore the ruins around Cusco. Nevertheless, the people at Hostel Puscana were very helpful, and they were able to find a tour bus that left right when we got back from Pisac. What great service!!! We saw Sacsayhuamán, used as a military fortress by the incas. Qenqo, which is thought to be a temple where death rituals took place. Puca Pucara, "Red Fort" in Quechua, has red color rocks and is thought to function as an administrative center, storage area, hunting lodge, or stopping area. And lastly Tambomachay, thought to be used for religious reasons. By the end of the tour we were all "ruined" out. Our tour guide took us to an Alpaca factory, where we bought some scarves and I bought an Inca cross necklace.

We then went to see an Peruvian Dance show at the cultural center that was a part of the Bolesto Turistico ticket. It was interesting to see the different costumes, culture and peruvian dances in the different regions of peru. Afterwards, we had dinner at a nice italian restaurant (I still had a poor appetite), even thought the food was not that bad. Then it was off to bed for a good nights sleep as we headed back to Lima the next day.

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