Cusco

We caught a night bus from Arequipa to Cusco and arriving in Cusco in the early hours of the morning we headed to our prebooked hostel and went to sleep for the first few hours of the morning.

Once awake we decided to explore Cusco. Sam was much more awake from the power nap, but E-J seemed to be more spaced out than ever, which she thought was due to the altitude. As we had five days in Cusco before the Inca trail we decided to take the first day easy. We walked the streets finding a better and cheaper hostel to stay in and looked into a couple of possible tours as well as getting the final details from our tour company about the Inca Trail.

The following day, E-J started to feel really ill and with the most excruciating stomach cramps had to return to the hostel and spend the rest of the day in bed with a fever. Sam on the other hand felt fine and with his first time to explore somewhere alone spent the rest of the day shopping for bargains and wandering the streets.

Being a Saturday, we had hoped to party in Cusco, but with E-J sick in bed we resorted to an early night.

The next day we took a tour of the Sacred Valley which began with a one hour bus trip to Pisac Market followed by a quick excursion of the ruins, a quick stop at Urubamba for lunch, then onto the ruins of Ollantaytambo and finally to Chinchero market.

On arriving in Pisac market we were overwhelmed by the commercial style of it and after a brief walk through it, were pleased to be back on the bus. We then reached Pisac Ruins and began to walk to the top of them. It was during the walk that E-J realised that she was still not 100%, with the colour draining from her face and her lips turning white, Sam realised that there was definitely something wrong. Running to the guide for help, the guide simply turned to Sam and said, it´s ok, we´ll go back down in 10 minutes. Realising that the guide was pretty useless Sam returned to E-J, reassuring her and getting her to drink water, so that she was able to gain her full consciousness again. Slowly returning back to the bus.

On the way to Chinchero market, we saw the most spectacular views of the Andes and moutainous landscape. We then arrived at Chinchero, to barter a few good buys. This market was very impressive and is known for being a traditional and authentic place. After picking up a few bargins we headed back to Cusco to enjoy a traditional Peruvian meal.

The next day we had a lazy day around Cusco, preparing ourselves for the Inca Trail. We also bumped into a few friend that we had met recently and arranged to go for a meal and a few drinks together. The "happy hour" was exploited excessively!

The next day was the day before the Inca Trail, so we decided to go for a big English breakfast. This had nothing to do with the beers consumed the night before. Usually, when we´re abroad the last thing you want to do is eat the same old food you eat everyday in England, but having been away over a month now, nothing was better than a good, old traditional, English fry up!

After that, the rest of the day was again, low key and after another enjoyable evening with Tobias and Lou, we prepared ourselves for the 5:20 call the following morning for the Inca Trail.

Sam´s Comments: Cusco was beautiful, with great food. However locals only speak to you to sell you something!

E-J´s Comments: I´ve enjoyed the colonial style of Cusco, but haven´t enjoyed the way that it has become so commercial. Within every three minutes someone runs up to you trying to sell you something and after the sixth person it gets a but much. I´m sure that, the fact that I have been bed bound has not also helped my opinions, but hopefully the Inca Trail is going to be an unforgettable experience.