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We arrived in Cusco after a long and uncomfortable bus journey from Lima. We checked into a hotel and slept for a little while before heading into the town for a little explore. Cusco is 3326m above sea level, and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in South America and most of the central streets are lined with massive Inca built walls. The city centre itself is really pretty and has a very Spanish feel, lots of cobbled roads and old churches, carved balconies and central squares with water features.
We had to arrive in Cusco 2 days before our Inca trek, in order to become acclimatised to the altitude, luckily we haven't had many problems with altitude sickness, but have felt a little out of breath very easily, which seems to be getting better the longer we are here. We went to see the trek company, Peru Trek and Adventure for our briefing and to pay the balance of the trek (ouch!). The trek sounds great, although it looks like we may have to take a detour on the 4th day, due to a landslide!
That evening we decided to try some local food and had grilled Alpaca, which tasted a little bit like beef with a bit of a mild liver taste too! The next day we checked into another hotel, as we decided to stay more central to the city, The hotel is a really old renovated building with traditional features and a lovely cobbled courtyard with a fountain! - we decided to pay a bit more for a nice hotel, since we have to leave our bags with them during our trek and Peru is renowned for things going walkies! Then it was time for a bit of sightseeing, we visited a number of churches and saw the ruins of Coricancha. This was once one of the Inca Empire's richest temples and was once covered with gold and featured solid gold statues. The temple walls were lined with 700 solid gold sheets, each weighing 2 kg! When the Conquistadors arrived in Cusco the gold was taken and melted down! We also visited the artisan quarter, Plaza San Blas, to pick up a few things for our trek! Holly bought an Alpaca jumper, socks and some earrings, just what she needed for a 4 day trek! Laura bought an Alpaca poncho, socks and hat! For lunch we went to a great Andean restaurant called Quinta Eulalia. Peruvians tend to eat their main meal at lunch so we thought we'd give that a go and had a huge meal of roasted mutton with roast potatoes, bell peppers stuffed with mince, carrots, onion and cheese, vegetables and we think polenta cooked in corn leaf. Yummy!
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