Cusco

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I arrived in Cusco some eight odd days ago and am awaiting for the end of the month when I start the treck to Machu Piccu.
I spent half of the second day looking for a cheap hostel after I had a bit of an augument with the owner of the one I was originaly staying in over the price of the room.
When I was at the bus station he told me it was 15 sol a night, but when I got the taxi there suddenly it was 20 sol a night, but I wasn´t going to put up with that sort of nonsense, so after substantive investigations I moved 5 doors down the road and saved myself 7 sol a night. Actually, I am going to do something competely out of the ordinary and actually recommend Hospadaje de Artesano de San Blas as a place of choice when in Cusco. Hospadaje Inca, you can get screwed.

I am also going to recommend Pisaq as the best place on the Boleto turistico. The walk up from the village is tiring, as it is an hour up hill in a hot valley, but it is certainly worth it. The 7 hours I was at Pisaq, I saw no one else climb up (but a few climbed down), and I going was against the flow of the few tourists that were there, so most of the time I was completely alone. And the view is just lovely.
Secondly, once you walk from the temple to the militery complex, you can return back to the temple by climbing up throught the military complex, over the very top of the mountain, passing along some interesting sections of pathway and caves. Then if you return to the inca baths by the military complex you can return to the village by taking a path down to the left, passing the tombs in the cliffs, and you'll also come across the remains of an Inca bridge. That path isn´t in your guide books, and you'll come across no other tourist. I saw no one else on that route- all the tourists just did a loop from the carpark to the temple, and then down the hill and return to the car park.

The museos on the Boleto Touristico are are quite bad, and you can do all 5 of them in one morning.

Tipon is worth a look, and you can take a local bus from the avenue de la cultura for one sol. Also, if you follow the cool irrigation channel 500 meters up till it´s end, you can turn to the left and walk through the prickle bushes for a K or two, you´ll come to a fairly substaintal collection of ruins. Sure, they haven´t been restored, but once again, no one else will be there. Again, another personal discovery - so it won´t be in your guide books. But then there are so many unrestored and uncleaned ruins here, you just have to walk an hour anywhere and you´ll find something.

Cusco is quite a nice city, the centre extermely gringo, but interesting.
There is art for Africa, but everyone copies everyone else, so it all mostly looks the same. There are shoeshine boys for Africa as well, and they all tell you they are really painters but need to shine shoes to buy more paint. Then there are the guides here, who in their imagination sculpt Condors out of every rock they see, and look at you stangley when you can´t see it. Everyone here is an artist.

Anyway, I have just been doing the mueso and ruins thing, and am off on the Inca trail tomorrow.

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Photos

Everyone breast feeds
on the streets in Cusco. It is just so common, but this was the only time I felt comfortable enough to take a photo of it.

Terraces at Pisaq
with the military barraks up on the hill

These
are stones set out of the terrace walls to serve as steps.

Inca tombs
set into the cliff walls.

typical village street
This street is in Tipon

Inca wine bottle
A cave system I came across on one of my walks. Not in the guide books, but it took three hours to explore every cave, and some of them had alters in them. This particular cave is still used by the locals for worship as it had fresh coca leaves and candles.