Cusco

On Monday Marcel and I departed to Ica to ride the 17 hour coach to Cusco (3500m) I helped the taxi driver with his English homework in return for a reduced charge.

The coach was more luxury than anything I had ever travelled in with full personal android entertainment system and almost fully reclining seats. After my ears popped about ten times and a few movies passed we had arrived in a beautiful mountain city which was a a big contrast to the stressless slow pace of the coast. We are staying in the kokopelli here which entitles us to 30% off as a result of working in the last one.

The first night was strange, feeling low on energy and lacking in appetite. Upon awakening the next day I felt rejuvenated although still slightly out of breath and ready to check out the town. Alpaca is a huge trade in this part of Peru and I had already got my eye on some woolen garments. So I headed eagerly to the Marquez San fransisco to sample the goods. I had a thoroughly good time going to each store and bartering to as close to half price as I could get and was generally successful, this was a huge confidence boost in both spoken Spanish and general bartering (something I'm not accustomed to)

We then went to the San Pedro food market to look for something to eat, they have endless rows of fruits, meats, cheeses and other inexplicaple food related items. Including brains, snouts, frogs and hearts from various animals. We settle for an epic meal time style sandwich with an array of ingredients.