Cusco

Yesturday, we took a flight from Lima to Cusco. It was only a 45 min flight and the view of the terrain was spectacular! We arrived in Cusco and was taxied to our hostel, Samay Wasi. The hostel is on one of the hills that surrounds Cusco so we have an amazing view of the city. Cusco is a very cool city with a lot of culture. The roads are all made of cobble stones, there are small corridors everywhere and within them there are shops and restaurants of all kinds. After we got settled in at the hostel we started to explore. As we left the hostel we bumbed into a lady with a lama on a leash and as we took a picture, the damn thing spit at us! ha We ended up in Plaza de Armas, which has two gorgeous Cathedrals, shops and restaurants. We ended up eating lunch at a resturant that looked over the plaza, Patrick and I had Lama (that's what you get for spitting at us)! It was decent, Pat highly enjoyed it. Next, we explored the Cathedrals and the Natural History Museum, which was not worth the 2 soles. However, within the museum there was a two faced goat and a six legged goat! We then went back to the hostel and meet some people. We made friends with a guy from London, Jack, and a girl from Germany, Mika. We ended up all going out to get dinner and drinks. I have found out that the local booze, Pisco, is awful. It tastes like they have mixed vodka and whiskey together. In Cusco we have found out that they don't sell pitchers of beer anywhere but they do sell pitchers of mixed drinks! After and couple of drinks we headed back and hung out with other travelers.

Today, we explored Cusco more, we made it to a huge market, where they sold everything you can think of. We saw the main downtown area and got lunch. At lunch we all ordered something different and yet, they all looked and tasted exactly the same! ha. I took a tour through a Cathedral that has been transformed to honor the Inca culture. In side they had the most amazing oil paintings that were surrounded in real gold frames! It was prohibited to take pictures of the paintings which was a bummer. Right when we returned to the hostel a thunder and lighting storm started which lit up the sky. Dinner was amazing, we went to a small little pizza joint around the corner from our hostel.

Tomorrow we are getting on a train and going to Machu Picchu at 6:40am. We have booked a hostel at Machu Picchu so we can watch the sun come up from top of the world!

Colin, Patrick, & Kristy

Check pictures here.