Cusco

Day 144 – Pirawana vs. Pirwa

Pete and Jacqui split a cab with us into town early in the morning, as we were under the impression we’d booked the same place to stay.  When we arrived however it was to discover that we had in fact book very similar sounding but different places.  So we parted ways and went in to claim our beds.  However to our dismay we’d booked a day late and there was no space at the inn (at least none they were willing to give us), so we headed back out in the early morning streets in search of beds.

Eventually we succumbed to one of Cusco’s relentless touts and followed her up the hill from the main square to a crooked old hotel with a cheap room on offer.  Five minutes later we were both collapsed on our beds asleep.

When we finally got up again we headed up the hill to the San Blas area in old Cusco to grab some late breakfast and spend the afternoon shopping.  Erin got a variety of bargains, including a whole heap of stuff I can’t remember, jewellery probably, all gifts of course!

The pokey little laneway which housed our hotel.

 
Cusco’s Plaza de Armas.

Day 145 -  Research and Milkshakes

Walking from our hotel to the hostel we had booked we encountered the makings of a parade.  A woman accosted us providing us each with a pin and brief explanation in exchange for a ‘donation’, but I still didn’t really get the  gist.  Every one had nice costumes though!  We think it was something to do with the Sunday after Easter.

This time the hostel had beds for us, and not just any beds, but nice new ones with innerspring mattresses, fluffy doonas and pillows that didn’t feel like they were full of rocks.

What we also found in the hostel was a bar, with WIFI and really comfy couches in the corner.  We also discovered some of the worlds most delicious milkshakes and some quite tasty sandwiches.  In short, we didn’t move for about 12 hours, instead Erin researched Galapagos tour boats and interrogated tour operators while I finished my book pretty much in one sitting (The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson, a little contrived but very engaging).  We also consumed several of the tasty milkshakes!

Day 146 – Anna arrives with a Bam!

The internet told us that Anna’s connecting flight from Lima to Cusco had been cancelled, but that there were others 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after.  So we hopped in a cab out the airport to wait.  She arrived on the second flight and we whizzed her back to the hostel to receive our pressies.  Aside from the aforementioned replacement camera, we’d also bullied her into getting us some new Bonds undies, mine had all been pinched with the pack and the South American equivalents were no match.  We’d also enlisted her to bring us some Vegemite, but the liquids rules when boarding at Sydney had caught Anna out and the bastard security people confiscated it (whoever heard of someone blowing up a plane with a jar of vegemite?).  Erin’s dark chocolate made it at least!

To ease the culture shock on Anna and satisfy our own bored taste buds we took Anna to an Australian owned restaurant for dinner.  The menu was a mix of Peruvian classics and Australian food (Indian and Thai!).  When we decided we’d kept Anna awake long enough to begin her jetlag recuperation, we headed home to the nice comfy beds!