Cusco, Peru and the Sacred Valley (Peru Trip Part 3)

We left Arequipa at 8:30pm and rode overnight in a "Salon Cama" seat that laid back almost flat. 

This is a random picture I found online... I don't know this person... but that is what it looked like.

This time, after they served us a meal, they turned on that terrible Eddie Murphy movie where he can't say any more words or he will die... BUT dubbed in Spanish.  Turns out, the only thing more annoying than Eddie Murphy is Eddie Murphy dubbed in Spanish.  We pressed on however and after what was actually a decent night's sleep, arrived in Cusco at 6:30am.

We walked, rather than take a cab, to find our hostel to drop off our things and quickly found a place to eat breakfast to begin our day.  

Our first day in Cusco was spent walking around viewing the architecture, strolling through markets, and taking a city tour on an old-time tram (a trolley from the original public transportation of Cusco), which took us to corners of the city that are difficult to visit by foot. 

Michael has a love of fancy looking drinks.

Cuscoffe... so clever.. especially since coffee is not a Spanish word.

The women of Peru dress in beautiful colors and traditional clothing.  

San Cristobal

Cusco by night... and by rain.

 The following morning we got up early to take our day tour of the Sacred Valley which included visits to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Urubamba and Chincero.  Not only was the day filled with stunning vantage points, but our tour guide filled us with her knowledge of Incan traditions and history (in both English and Spanish).

In one of the markets, a woman was weaving a beautiful tapestry (or blanket... I'm unsure).

Oh man... more stairs...

After climbing stairs... stairs... and more stairs...

The tour ended with a trip the "mas hermosa" Catholic Church in the entire Sacred Valley in the POURING rain.  (helloooo rainy season).  There were small children selling bracelets the moment you walked out of the church (in the rain), so obviously, my ability to say no is non-existent. I bought two different bracelets for the equivalent of 30 cents each and the little girl was so excited she "gifted me a puppet" also.  Preciosa.

We made it back to Cusco just in time for our "briefing" for our hike to Machu Picchu the next day.  We knew immediately that our trip was never going to be boring once we met the other people in our group.  (More on that later)  We went to bed early for our 3am wake up call with the kind of anticipation kids have for Disneyworld.  Stay tuned.