So leaving the Amazon is sad, but can't say I am not excited about the next part of the tour. So boat, bus and plane later we arrive in Cuzco early afternoon. Instantly there is a drop in temperature as we hit altitude of 3000m, my first though.... Where did I pack that fleece! We check in and this is where we start guzzling the coca tea... Apparently good for altitude sickness.
So coca tea is made from the leaf of the Coca plant, as is cocaine. Up here it's rolled and chewed, or drunk as tea. You can do that either straight from the leaf or they do tea bags. The leaves you can't take out of the country, despite the fact it takes over 18000 leaves to make a gram on cocaine apparently?! Plus you need all sorts of extras which it seems the Peruvians aren't as interested in as the Columbians! But you can take the tea bags out of the country . Anyway, in Peru the porters live off this stuff and to them it's more precious than a couple of soles, suppresses hunger, keeps them alert and with energy which they need to get the 25kg packs around the Inca Trail. Doesn't taste bad (with sugar!), so if it's supposed to help then I go with the flow and get stuck in.
Anyway, back to Cuzco.... So in the afternoon we have a little tour of the neighbourhood and have to say that so far in travelling South America Cuzco is th most beautiful city for architecture with its Spanish influence and the main square with its balconies, intricate wooden carvings it's really beautiful. Sadly a litle spoilt by Starbucks and a Paddy's Bar in the corner!!! But still very picturesque.
So after our brief tour we head to a place called Jacks for a very late lunch, everyone is starving. The food is amazing, everyone leaving keeps telling us what is good on the menu and it seems that is everything. I keep it simple with chicken and avocado sandwich and salad, comes with fries too... And the plate is huge!!!! Delicious... But don't think I will be eating again in a hurry, it's all I can do to stop myself buying a slice of one of the huge cakes to take back to the hotel.
After a little more browsing and stocking up on essentials for the rest of the trip it's back to the hotel. There are a few people in national dress wandering the streets, every now and then someone says "photo" obviously wanting a couple of soles for the trouble. Curtis gets his picture with a lamb, little girl and her mother 5 soles... Obviously the extra is for holding the lamb!!! Still they seem to think he should be paying more... So you do need to be wary when taking pictures sometimes.
Cuzco is a pretty easy city to navigate round and relatively safe in comparison to other places I have been so far. I notice though there are a lot of dogs around, just wandering the streets... Thankfully I paid a small fortune for my rabies shot!! Phew..... In the evening we meet Jacob who takes us through what the Inca Trail will be like and what we need to take so that tonight we can pack, he also gives us our duffle bags which will be the bags used for our personal belongings that the porters carry for us on the inca trail. Then it time to get packing.
Bag 1 is left here in Cuzco, Bag 2 is what I will carry on the trail, Bag 3 the duffle that the porters carry, and finally Bag 4 everything else and overnight bag for tomorrow evening when we stay in the sacred valley.... Already checked and there is no wifi on the inca trail so won't be needing my iPad and various chargers!!!
Good to go.... Only 2 sleeps now!
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