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Day 12
6th June 2013
Enjoy the day at leisure with option to visit the many museums and ruins in and around Cuzco.
Cuzco’s numerous colonial churches are one of the city’s most common sights. The Cathedral was started in 1559 and took 100 years to build; it is also one of the city’s greatest repositories of colonial art. Immediately in front of the entrance is a vault containing the remains of the famous Inca historian, Garcilaso de la Vega. Also worth visiting are the churches of La Compañía, La Merced and San Francisco.
While most ruins are just outside of the city, the main ruin within is that of the Coricancha, once the Inca Empire's richest temple. Today the ruin forms the base of the colonial church of Santo Domingo. During Inca times this temple was literally covered with gold, but within months of the arrival of the first conquistadors this incredible wealth had all been melted down. It is left to the individual imagination to envision the magnificence of the original structure.
There are several good museums in Cuzco, including the Archaeological Museum, which also houses a small art museum, the Regional History Museum and the Religious Art Museum. Our best advice for exploring Cuzco is to wear a comfortable pair of shoes, arm yourself with a city map and set off to explore!
So a nice lay in and breakfast around 08:00 then take my washing to reception to be collected around 9:30. It will be so good to have clean cloths again. The plan this morning is to go to the market with Libby and Aude and we set off with little idea of which direction we should be going but who cares its just a relaxing day. Libby says that she thinks she knows which direction the market is so we take her advice and head down town. We find the market and wander round all buying little bits and pieces. In one of the stalls I spot a T shirt with a picture of a lama spitting on it and say this would be a funny gift for Jenny as it was her birthday last week and Paco has organised a surprise part tonight at the Fallen Angel. The top is 15 sol so we all chip in and buy it for Jenny for a laugh.
We head back towards the main part of town and every few hundred yards we come across another market area, not good as Libby is a bit of a shopaholic lol. Once we get past all the markets we decide it would be a good idea to stop off at the hotel and drop of the shopping so far. Libby has got so many shopping bags lol. We drop the bags off and head towards the main square stopping off at the bank along the way as we all need some more cash. When we get to the main square we meet Richard,Gina,Jean and Carol. They tell us there is a big food festival in the next square and then another market a couple of blocks down. We decide to go and check it all out after we have a coffee. We find a coffee shop called Top coffee and sit and enjoy a good coffee for a change. On the wall is a picture of a load of girls in thongs all in a line so I can't resist taking a photo.
We wander into the next square where the food festival is taking place and there are hundreds of stalls all selling pretty much the same thing, chicken and guinea pig. We take some photos and head along to the next market. This market seems to be more fruit, meat and vegetables so we turn around and head back to the main square. We stop off for a burger at a local place before going back to the hotel to get our laundry and have a rest before tonight's celebrations.
The group all meet in the lobby at 19:00, everyone asking what each other have done during their free time. We head off for dinner at the fallen angel. When we arrive and walk in they have cast iron baths for tables all filled with water with fish in and and a sheet of glass on top. There is a table all set out for our group with streamers and balloons for Jenny's birthday and as she walks into the room we all sing happy birthday. After ordering our food and drinks we are allowed to go and check out the guest rooms which they charge $300 to $400 a night for. The rooms are out of this world and each room is totally different. After dinner Jenny's birthday cake come out which Paco has arranged all with candles and sparklers on top.
We leave and some of the group head back to the hotel, but a few of us decide to go for a couple of drinks. Paco takes us to a bar which has happy hour until midnight and free salsa lessons for an hour each night. Jenny orders a round of Pisco sours for all of us and its not long before she is joining in with the salsa classes. David decides to go back to the hotel leaving just Aude,Jenny,Libby,Paco and myself. The music changes from salsa to club music and I order another round of piscos for the group and and B52's for Paco,Jenny and myself. It's not long before all 5 of us are dancing up on the bar. We move over to some seats in the corner of the bar which seems to be full of G adventure CEO's. After a couple more drinks Libby says she is going back to the hotel so I offer to walk back with her. It's going to be a long day tomorrow and I want to try and get some sleep before being stuck on a bus for 8 hours. We get back to the hotel and have one last cigarette before heading to our rooms.
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