This morning we got up, showered, and headed back to the airport to fly to Cusco! We checked our bags without any problems and went to the gate. We had to take another bus to the plane and ended up sitting on the plane for a bit before actually taking off. We only arrived a little late to Cusco, but got our bags quickly and our taxi was waiting for us. The drive to the hostel was easy and when we arrived we saw a woman walking a llama down the street.
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| Arriving in Cusco |
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| Llama walking down the street |
The hostel is really nice and we immediately found Miguel and Paige in the common area. We hung out for a bit and used the Internet and then went out to explore. We walked around the city with two girls from the hostel, one from Indiana and one from Germany. We stopped by the chocolate museum so the girl from Indiana could pick something up, and I got a small price of dark chocolate with sea salt while we waited. We then went to pick up the Brits, but they weren't ready so we went straight to lunch instead. At lunch I had vegetable soup and Peruvian trout, all of which was delicious. After lunch we said goodbye to our German friend and toured the main cathedral at the Plaza de Armas. Caitlin and I shared and audio tour, but only went through part of it (it was free with our admission). Our Michigan IDs have been getting us great discounts at all the sites, so I'm really glad I brought it! The girl from Indiana wanted to do the entire audio tour, so we split up from there and the four of us went on. We walked around a bit and there were people with llamas and alpacas all over. They want money in exchange for a picture. I eventually got one cause they're just so cute, but it's kind of as for the animals. We checked out where Miguel's bus to Ollantaytambo is tomorrow to get to Machu Picchu and then went to the old Inca site called Qurikancha, which was taken over by Pizzaro in the times of the Spanish conquest. The conquistadors basically melted down and sole all the once gold and art, which is sad, but it was a cool site to see the mix of Inca and Spanish. Very beautiful.
Next we just walked around a bit and it eventually started raining. People didn't want to go back to the hostel right away so my jacket got soping wet and is still drying, but we did eventually go back. When we got back we had some appetizers and drinks and just hung out before heading to dinner. We went to a place on our hostel map near the Plaza de Armas and it was actually really good. I got a drink called the Machu Picchu, which was creme de menthe, orange juice, Pisco, and grenadine. Looked cool, but not my favorite overall. I'll stick to the maracuya sours. For dinner I had alpaca sirloin and it was delicious. Super sad to think about but definitely tasty.
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| Tile map of Cusco |
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| Plaza de San Francisco |
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| Restaurant where I ate my alpaca |
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| Machu Picchu drink... never again |
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| Alpaca sirloin |
After dinner we came back to the hostel and got ready for bed. Just as we got our pjs on the Brits texted us to come to their hostel. I didn't really want to go, but got my clothes back on anyways and walked over to their place. Their hostel is way different than ours, and I much prefer ours. Theirs is definitely a party hostel and their bar is super loud with flashing lights, people dancing on the bar, lots of smoke... Basically not my scene at all. I hung out for a bit but eventually couldn't deal with being there anymore and left. Paige wanted to stay so Caitlin wanted to stay with her to make sure she was okay since she'd be coming home late and I ended up walking back alone. I got back and re brushed my teeth and now I'm very ready for bed. I'm so tired and can't wait to sleep!
Have a great trip to Machu Picchu!!
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