22 porters and 1 cook for 19 gringos

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Oh my god!! Did I really sleep for 13 hours? At 9AM, my travel mate, Saggy Buns, woke me by speaking my name. My bleary eyes opened to find him already dressed and ready for breakfast. The breakfasts here have a lot to be desired. The toast is not really toast at all - just some airy crumbs.

Anyhow, we spent the morning having a lazy lunch at Tunuupa where we had an excellent view of the main plaza here, Plaza de Armas. Nice views and the buffet was extremely filling as I pigged out! Hey, I'm gonna need the calories on the Inca trail. I also had my first taste of the local drink of choice, a pisco sour. Tastes a lot like an overly fermented martini.

After our meal, we managed to catch up with a city tour where we went to Qorichancha. This was an interesting place that demonstrated the skill of the Incan builders. All their buildings were made of stone without any mortar. Some of the stones are extremely large and heavy, but I found I think the smallest stone they ever used.

The tour also took us up to Sacsayhuaman (which sounds a lot like "sexy woman"). Again, more amazing Incan stonework. Some of the stones put together seem to etch out animals in the wall such as a platypus. I even found my own picture in the stonework. Did the incans box much? Hmmmm...

Our evening was low-key as we had our orientation meeting for our Inca trail trek. I am shocked and ashamed to discover that to help our sorry asses along, we need the help of 22 porters to schlep our stuff up the mountains. Gawwwd!

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Photos

Plaza de Armas
From the balconey of our lunch place

Silly Buns
At lunch

Qorichancha
Some of the old incan art work

Smallest Incan stone
As explained by our guide

Sacsayhuaman
Up in the hills of Cusco.

Platypus
Head is to the left.

Boxing Glove
Am I the only one who sees this?

At night
Just gettin' to know the locals.