Pisac to Cusco

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Geo: -13.4241, -71.8576

That was the worst nights sleep we ever had at a three star hotel, anywhere in the world, ever. Breakfast was average too. Some fruit and bread, with some precooked scrambled eggs. The grouchy staff member from last night again scowled at us for opting to take cutlery to sit with the few group members rather than at a distant empty table. If we thought things were bad for us, they were worse for Pete, a British member of our group. As of 4am, he'd become violently ill with vomiting and an infection. This would rule him and his girlfriend Sam out of being able to hike the Inca trail. The rest of the group left by bus at 8. Wed take Sam to get some medication and organise a taxi for her and Pete to return to Cusco to see a doctor.

So from here, Nat and I basically had a private tour. We'd return to Cusco for a couple nights. We had a variety of ruins, hikes and activities to get stuck into. First up, an hour drive to the city of Pisaq. Included in our intrepid tour, a drive to this city and visit to the marketplace. For an extra $30USD payment to the driver, we had him take us half hour further up the mountain to the Pisaq Inca ruins at the summit. It was worth it to say the least.

These spectacular ruins were huge and a joy to behold and explore. Dozens of curves terraces were overlooked by several Inca ruins and building remains dating around the 1300s. All of which offered grand views of the valley, town below and surrounding mountains. Across from the ruins a cliff face containing thousands of graves of Incan people, many half unearthed by treasure hunters during the 1980s. The area was also home to pre-Incan buildings, with some Kilche buildings scattered around the entrance, dating back to the 1100s. You could see a stark clash between the architectures of the ancient civilizations, side by side. Our guide gave us some time to hike to the summit here and spend some time exploring the ruins. A truly memorable place.

After leaving the ruins, we descended by bus down to the city of Pisaq below to explore the marketplace. Here we enjoyed some traditional Peruvian pastries called Empanadas. Delicious! Now for the markets. Now one thing I hate about being a tourist is being heckled to buy goods and souvenirs. This is particularly painful in Peru. Whether it be Pisaq or Cusco, you cant walk 50 metres without being approached by 51 random locals; "Massage? Tour? Sunglasses? Paintings? Photo? Souvenir? Can I basically have your money?". Approach a souvenir stall at your peril. A sniff of your interest and you'll instantly be beset to a siege of sales pressure. They'll pretty much start packing up an item and expect payment. "Your best price Mr?" 'But.. i don't even want that..' "Ok I halve price for you!" Other merchants seemed to start playing a flute as we passed, perhaps trying to charm us to reaching for our wallets like a snake handler might for a snake.

At the end of the day we ended up buying a nice Machu Picchu painting after extensive negotiations. We ended up getting it for about half the original price, hut I'm not a fan of haggling. I always feel the seller ultimately wins.From here we began the long drive back to Cusco. Having left early this morning we still arrived back by 2 with plenty of free time to explore the city ourselves this afternoon. Will, our guide drew us up a map with some recommended options.

First stop, the Pre Colombian Art Museum. This was a small but interesting museum with many ancient artifacts from Incan and pre-Incan civilizations dating back to BC. I really liked some pottery, artifacts and jewelery from the Mochica people from 1AD to 800AD.

Next, after some random football with a 5 year old local, we headed to the main square to explore the Cathedral del Cusco. It cost us about 25PRS each. The building was as spectacular inside as it was outside. The audio tour didn't add to the experience. It was a bit weird really. A video tablet rather than just audio. Why watch a tablet when you're actually standing in somewhere so spectacular. The audio wasn't at all engaging or interesting. The cathedral was impressive. Incredibly grand and ornate, something you'd expect to find in Europe. The Black Jesus was noteworthy as well as many other artifacts.

We still managed to find time for the chocolate/cocoa museum before dinner. We of course left with a couple small samples. Dinner tonight was at Marcelo Batata, recommended by our guide and number 13 on Tripadvisor. What a spot. We ate up on the roof, outside, under the stars with a lovely view. A had a cocktail called appleson, Nat an Inca Kola and Alpaca was again on the menu. A steak with side of sweet pepper for me and chili con carne for Nat. What a day. Tomorrow were looking forward to visiting 4 Inca Ruins. We are really enjoying Peru but for one thing. Exhaustion. Both hotels have been horrific for noise and sleeping conditions. We've been lucky to get 3-4 hours sleep a night. That with altitude, has us borderline sick, sorta jet lagged and just drained. I'm always tired. Hopefully things improve.

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Nice pic mate!