The driver, Louis, who drove us from the Lima airport drove us back today. The traffic here is incredible. People create their own lanes and cut others off all the time. The amazing thing is that we have not seen a single accident or even a dent in a car. Louis took us into the airport, helped us check in and walked us all the way to security - great service. It was only about an hour flight to Cuzco. We were greeted as we were waiting for our bags. We went to the van, expecting a group, but yet again it was a private transfer. The drive to the Sacred Valley and the town of Urubamba took about an hour and a half. The scenery was gorgeous with green terraced hillsides and high snow capped mountains. We got to the Hotel San Agustin about 2:00 PM. We rested for a while and then walked into town. It was just as you would expect in rural Peru. Dusty streets, small shops, and markets. It is obviously very poor but we were very safe. We explored the town for a while, went thru a huge fresh food market and stopped to pick up a bottle of wine and some waters. The tap water in Peru is not safe to drink so we have been using bottled water. It started to rain so we caught a small motorcycle powered "taxi" back to the hotel. It cost all of 2 Sols - about 65 cents.

The best restaurant we saw on our walk was right here in the hotel. No problem getting a table - there were only three tables occupied. It is the off season in this area, being summer and the rainy season. The hotel has over 100 rooms and it seems that less than ten are occupied. Bonnie had some delicious trout. I wanted something different so I tried the grilled Alpaca (sorry PETA). It was good - a bit on the dry side and reminded me a little of liver.