Day 67: Cruisy day in Cusco #1

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We woke up this am by ppl coming back from being out at 4am, running and yelling through the main area of our hostel, which unfortunately we happen to be right beside. Thankfully after shoving my earplugs in even deeper I fell back asleep and woke up at 8am when they open the front door to the hostel and there is no chance of any more sleep. Ben got up really quickly and showered and changed like his life depended on it! He claimed he was really hungry and that cos I had a massive headache from the altitude we should get up and eat then get to a pharmacy to get some altitude pills. I was planning on lying in for a bit but seeing as though he was wanting to help me I obliged, though didnt shower, and just put a hoody and trackies over my pjs to go and get breakie. A free breakie was apparently included in our hostel rate so we went to the kitchen areas and saw 2 slices of ham and 2 rolls there with tea and coffee. Hmm...so we decided this was not for us and left to wander down the street and find some more breakfast. We stumbled across a place called Cuscoffee which we decided if the place had coffee in the name, it must be good! I stood gazing at the treats in the cabinet till ben pulled me away saying Rach its breakfast time! We sat down and ordered ham and cheese omelettes – very average, and a coffee – slightly above average but only just! Ah well at least we had eaten.Next we went into a pharmacy and got some ills which we had seen advertised on a billboard at the airport for altitude sickness! Haha must be trustworthy hey?!

When we got back to the hostel I was so cold I climbed back into bed and got my kindle out and Ben started planning our day using trip advisor and our city map. 20 mins later he tells me we are going to pay for our jungle tour, then going to the post office to post some more souvenirs, then lunch at a place called Cool Bananas, then coffee later on at a place called Cafe dos x 3, then back to the hostel to reconvene and plan our dinner stop which was my job! Right ok well Id better get up and get showered!! He was sitting there very proud having marked out a route on our map. Best part of the week so far – I decided to try my hair straightener in a peruvian plug cos I am sure it worked here last time, and after 2 and a half months of having a mop on my head, it worked!!!!! I was so so excited! So Ben had to wait just a lil longer while I very happily straightened my hair!! Ahh I feel sort of human again!

So, we headed off into the main square to find Lorenzo Expeditions. There is some sort of festival happening in the main square over the next few days and there was so many people watching, music playing and loads of adults dressed up in peruvian bright colours marching aorund the square to music. It was really cool. So we took a few pics then moved on and found our tour company who explained our tour to us. It sounds fun but a lot of hard work and cold showers and dorm rooms – 2 things im not overly excited about! But only for a few days so positivity Rach! They fitted us for our helmets and gloves for our downhill day bike on day 1 too. Unfortunately the money machine would only give us $400 in one day so we couldnt pay the whole amount so back we will come tomorrow. On wards and upwards, it was time to find the post office. Along the way I started recognising places and realised of yeah I def walked to this post office before 2 years ago! We found it and a guy immediately took us into his office and like a machine wrapped up all our stuff and put in a box and labeled it for us. Then we took it up to the counter – this lil box which would be 1kg max, and she looked at us and said S/180!! Thats $70!!! We couldnt believe it! We sent a massive package from Panama with our hammock and everything in it for $60. Insane! We actually both looked at each other then laughed at her. What a Joke! So we took away our box and didnt really know what to do with is but guess theres only a few weeks to go to carry it round.

Next stop on our route for the day was a place called Cool Bananas for lunch. Ben had a yummy smoothie and a sandwich while I had strawberry crepes and a chai 'latte'! It wasnt a chai latte but meh it was ok.

Filled up we started wandering the streets for a few hours looking for a painting of Machu Picchu and some more lil knick nacks. We found one painting we really liked but the lady wanted way too much money for it so we told her no hoping she would chase us down the street saying less money unfortunately she didnt. We'll go back tomorrow and try again!

Next stop was coffee! Cafe Dos x 3. I had a very odd average strawberry milkshake which Ben ended up drinking all of cos the owner was a really cute old man and I felt bad leaving it!! We shared a piece of carrot cake which was quite tasty but a lil dry, and Ben enjoyed his coffee moderately! 😊 So far no outstanding coffee here in Cusco.

After all these stops it was time for a siesta. So we headed back to the hostel spent the next few hours looking at houses in Bris and me emailing jobs and setting up a few phone interviews for the next few weeks. After we were searched out we decided that it was time for more food cos that's what we tend to do in Cusco – just eat! I had done my assigned job and found the Number 2 restaurant in Cusco called Inkazuela. The owners were so so lovely and accommodating and explained everything on the menu which was all pretty much different types of stews. She explained the few non spicy ones to me and what she recommended. Hot for Ben and Mild mild for me! We had read the a starter of Artisan cheeses and spinach was amazing so we ordered that to share as well as a red wine each. The wine was delicious as was the starter so before the mains we were happy! We have started realising just how much organising we are going to have to do in the space of 2 weeks when we get to Bris, so we have taken to bringing our phone at dinner and using wifi some nights to look up things we need to organise. Exciting but we have so much to do too, and Ben starts work a day after we arrive to bris! Ah we'll be right! When our mains arrived they were also delicious. Ben had a spicy beef stew and I had the orange pork. So yummy! And fresh bread rolls came out with them and they were so fresh they were hot! Mmm totally recommend this place! Fab!



We rolled ourselves home after dinner and read for a few hours till the music died down a notch in the hostel and fel asleep pretty quickly after a particularly lazy day in Cusco – just what the doctor ordered! 😊

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