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5/6 Back in Cusco
A slow and steady morning after the days of hiking the Inca trail. In the morning we caught up with Jose to get the photos he took along the trek from him. Jose would jump out and snap a quick shot, or organise all of us at the best places and also just snap interesting things.
Joe was in a state and couldn't come to meet Jose one last time. He was wrecked all day. After the meeting, Laura and Joe moved down to our hostel, with one interesting complication, there was no water. We had to get buckets for the bathroom so the system could work, it was not fun, especially with a sick Joe!!
We rested for a while and we all decided to try, so we followed the resting up by walking to San Pedro markets. It was really nice but both Sarah and Joe weren't feeling 100% so we returned home quickly. I was still full of energy and I think if left indoors would drive everyone crazy, so I headed out to see a museum and a church before returning for happy hour drinks at Loki with Laura.
The sculpture museum was very very different. All local artists and some had produced some very weird sculptures. Each year they hold a festival and the winners are displayed in here. There were some selected from earlier years, before the museum was opened. My favourite was a sculpture of Jesus on the cross made from guinea pig bones! A little different.
The church was next and it was incredible, with the inside facade plated in inca gold. Over a tonne of gold. The inside was a mixture of catholic and inca symbols. This was also the place I first worked out a difference that had been bugging me in all the churches, with the help from my Spanish guide. The cross that Jesus is on in Peru and Bolivia is short at the top. It is shortened as to not look like a cross/ or the southern cross, an important symbol to the Inca's. It is interesting which parts were kept from the Incas and that this major change appears everywhere. The guide was really interesting and swapped between English and Spanish, great to help me learn.
After I got back, Laura and I decide it was time for rum and coke, and we left the other two to continue relaxing. A few rums later, chips cheese and gravey and lots of cards, we joined in (watched) beer pong and danced at the bar. The was a big backpacker atmosphere with limbo and other crazyness. Everyone was a little wrecked by this point which made for funny exchanges. We decided we should call it a night and not go out with the others, 2:30 was probably enough after the trekking.
6/6 Home sweet home.
We changed to a new hostel, Home sweet home which had great breakfast, the only bad thing was the massive hill you had to climb up to get there. It was serious work! We planned out a timeline for all the time till we left in Cusco and tried to stick to that. Sarah and I went on a chocolate tour which was interesting, however, we later realised it was the same company as the one we did in Guatemala. It was still fun and I won the grinding of cocoa beans, such a proud moment.
I got my first job in a while. Sarah paid my entry and I explained to here the features of the gold church I visited the day before. It was interesting a second time around. After this we headed back to the hostel and enjoyed the view of the city with a cold beer on the roof, relaxed and joking around.
Dinner was a main event for Sarah and one of her friends Ryan, it was Guinea Pig!! I tasted a little but it's just too much effort for me, not enough meat on the little body.
7/6 Last day of Cusco
Commencing the day with a great breakfast of eggs, pancakes and the usual rolls with jam will be missed. The day will be finished on a night bus to Copacobana. Today was set to be full as we had no place to comeback to after we checked out.
For our last day of Cusco, Sarah and I wanted to see the temple of the sun, Joe and Laura wanted another massage, so we would meet later.
We headed out to find the temple of the sun, knowing that its located within part of a Catholic Church. it was partially built over as it was much bigger and stronger than the spanish could destroy. The base of a temple was so grand and constructed so well that nothing could be done. The walls are made from huge pieces of stone, carved together and laid with no mortar. There are groves and holes in the top of the corner pieces where molten bronze was poured to make the wall even stronger. The pieces go together almost seamlessly which with the weights and sizes that are used is incredible. Originally the walls were covered in gold and some windows had jewels, but the Spanish took all of that quickly. They then plastered over the walls they couldn't destroy and built a church on the location.
Our guide was really informative and took some photos of both of us aswell. She pointed out some interesting parts, like a 12 sided massive rock 2m long, 70cm high and shaped like a t) which made a doorway and the smallest (and in a way a smartarse piece or a piece to show off their skill), about 1cm by 1cm which went through the wall, amazing since there is no mortar or room for error. The Incas always built the buildings without producing long straight lines. the purpose of this is so during an earthquake it will not allowing the energy to propergate along the planes and thus destroy the structure.
Later on we caught up and we sat down to an amazing last meal in Cusco with a scallop starter and enjoyed a bottle of wine. A great end to our time here.
The last step was the night bus to Copacobana. This was possibly the worst sounding bus that I've ever been on. The worst part was they clearly didn't know how to drive and it wasn't getting better. Many stops at the side of the road, stalling the engine and general restarts later we were alittle down the road. Somehow, after an hour it's still going and in one piece, and it does work, I think. It's a little better so we stop laughing and we get some sleep.
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