Emanuel & Piuray Lodge Cusco

... we managed to slip into the pub for a few too many

Day 3

Hangovers all-round, we are (not really) ready for the Inca Trail tomorrow. Although Aaron and Davy still managed to get up and watch the Football at 7am! That's dedication.

For lunch I am disappointed to say we ate McDonalds!! Which I’m sure would have more dog into than the soup we had.

We are being picked up at 3.50am tomorrow for a 2-hour bus journey before we ...

... walking through the aisles), let me reassure you that bus travel in South America is not only easy and common, it’s often quite luxurious. Bus travel down here is very inexpensive, meals are served, there is wi-fi available (yes, on the bus), they show movies, and the seats recline comfortably enough to sleep. And for a modest additional charge, you can upgrade from a “semi-cama” to a “total-cama” seat in the VIP section or first floor of the bus ...

... were glad we walked up.

We decided we would catch the 14.55 train back to Olytattambe, it was the cheaper option as it was only $34 a person rather than the 17:30 which was $20 each. Unfortunately it was full or so that was what they told me. Christie on the other hand can work miracles and after talking with the ticket clerk managed to somehow find some seats. That left us with the simple task of paying for the seats but it seems that things were ...

It took a week for Mollie's feet to recover from the trek. We spent this time relaxing in Cusco and getting to know the city a little more intimately, awaiting the arrival of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, which were both disappointments.

Passing through the central plaza on Halloween, we quickly became aware that the custom is to mob storefronts and markets, not residences, and especially gringos leaving said storefronts, with jack-o-lantern bucket ...

... a waterfall in the background, and a forest behind us - one girl described it as something from the never ending story... Being so early we had time to explore a bit, rest in our tents and wait patiently for our popcorn and story time from Henry as he kept trying to escape telling us about his history and his mad hat that he wore... As we were surrounded by forest here, the horsemen collected firewood and we ate dinner around a blazing fire. After dinner there were ...

... we had to go back at 11am to catch our train on time from Aguas Calientes. The views we got to see were most fantastic as the sun came up in the morning and slowly covered the hills and ruins and luckily we had all day in the boiling sun with no rain or drizzle. We ate lunch below the watchtower and watched the panoramic of the amazing mountains surrounding and also the other ruins. Truly one of the best places on our trip and most memorable times! The best picture taking views we ...

... pace. Within one hour we had our first view of the snow capped Andes. The first day of hiking was to be seven hours, not including a few breaks and lunch. The group was pretty friendly, and came from around the world. One Aussie, two Spaniards, one Britt and three Americans, not including us. In a comforting coincidence, four of the trekkers were doctors! Three had years of residency under their belt and one still in med school. That was nice to know ...

... Urwald
Richtung Brasilien anbieten. Viele von denen Agenturen sind ziemlich dubios und
üb**teu**t. Da Cusco von Touristen nur so üb**flutet wird, wird an jed** Ecke
probi**t einen zu bescheissen. Mit d** Zeit bekommt man ab** ein gutes Gefühl
für die Leute und ihre Vorstellungen. D** v**krampfte V**such hi** nicht als
Tourist zu wirken, scheit**t kläglich (schon nur wegen d** Hautfarbe). D** Fall
ist klar, man ist weiss, somit gilst du ...

Our last night in Peru, Nikolas begged to go to eat Cuy (guinea pig). So off we went to Kusikuy. It took over an hour to get the roasted guinea pig! I can't say that I was too excited about it. Just the thought of eating a guinea pig made my stomach turn! But as they say, "when you are in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

They brought out the Cuy with the head, feet and all ...

... for being so naive. It is considered dangerous for anyone to share a taxi with complete strangers as it could potentially lead to a hijack situation. But luckily I was wrong about them. They seemed genuinely interested in us. They told us a bit about themselves, saying that they were surfers from Northern Peru and invited us to come by to that part of the country when we got the chance. They seemed like nice enough guys, but was relieved ...