Friday 7 June 2013

To Cuzco

Day 8 - 6 de junio: Puno to Cuzco

Today we left our highest elevation city, Puno for the city of Cuzco. It was a full day of driving, however unlike the endless drive to Puno, this one would be full of interesting stops along the way. Our first stop was at a little store in a small town 2 hours into the drive. It was a much anticipated stop as we were told they served an award-winning "best coffee in the world". I admit, the coffee was delicious, however it was hard to tell if it was really that good or it was just that much better than the caffeinated tar we had been drinking at the hotels. Regardless, i bought a bag of beans so that we could have a real tasting at home. After that, we continued on the road until lunch. We stopped in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere (it was odd to see such a place where you'd expect to see nothing but a service station). Again, it was amazing food, however I sort of wish they'd take us to more holes in the wall where the locals would eat. Might save us a bit of change too. Anyway, it was only 5 mins further until we came across a set of ancient ruins. It was a whole city (much of it in ruin), and our tour manager gave us some interesting insight into the Incan way of life. They have such a respect for the different elements of nature. We eventually arrived at a fountain where sacrifices would have been made. Our tour manager was raised in the mountains of peru and put on a mock ritual with both myself and Amanda "randomly" chosen as sacrifices. Don't worry, i'm still alive (it takes much more than that to kill me). It was kind of funny because the whole time we had a random guy following our group with a camera. It turned out he was taking photos for caricatures that some people had signed up to get. We joked that he was a spy gathering info on us. After that, it was a final stretch to Cuzco. By the time we entered the city, we were dying to get off the bus, however lucky us, we drove right into rush hour. Can't say we did much but dinner and bed once we completed the journey, however I have all intention to party it up in the city tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes!

The ruin site

Cuzco's streets have been parading it up since we arrived

Dinner in Cuzco

Cuzco at night

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