no molestarme, cusco!

another early wakeup for our flight from lima (again) to Cusco! Most disgusting breakfast to date. no pictures of it because a) it was disgusting and b) I don't even function well enough to walk properly before noon let alone unleash my photographic genius on tuna filled tamales, potatoes and hot dogs. Our flight was relatively uneventful except that we were sitting in front of the most annoying Japanese tourists ever. Which is strange seeing as the Japanese tourist is usually a very pleasant, albeit frenetic picture-taking species. these ones were monstrosities. There were a bunch of empty seats on the plane so i decided that I was going to take the row of three next to us and lie down to sleep, but the Japanese spies overheard my plan and jumped up and ran to the seats before the plane even started moving. one lady took up all three seats and did not even lie down!! Then two of them installed themselves behind us and had the LOUDEST conversation EVER, leaning forward so they were right in my trying-to-sleep-ear, taking pictures and kicking my seat and their friends kept coming over, leaning over me to take pictures of the clouds. very irritating. We pretty much went right to our hotel arquelogo. Pretty cool, our 30 dollar each a night room comprised of a downstairs with a futon, table and chairs and bathroom and upstairs were the beds. It was cozy except jordan hit his head every time he went downstairs, and it was pretty funny listening to him try to make it to the bathroom in the dark without his glasses (funny enough not to turn on the light). There was a large interior courtyard with a covered ceiling and a pretty cool restaurant where the waitors perform opera shows as you eat every single night. they were very talented but it was kinda weird. We met up with Ali in the main square and she was a really great tour guide of Cusco, we had milkshakes overlooking the square (trespassed on private property) and began what would become an obsessive consumption of alpaca products. Overall, although Cusco was pretty it was my least favorite place in Peru because it was overrun with tourists, most of the locals you encounter are incessantly pestering you to buy their product "massaje massaje!" and it gets tiring and annoying very quickly. That being said we still had a great time.

MACHU PICHU - for the quadriplegic

since we had planned on doing crazy hikes in Huaraz (which, I maintain, is the BEST place to go hiking/treking) we didn't alot any time to do a hike in Machu Pichu and the Inca Trail was booked since last year so we opted for the day tour so that we could at least say we saw it. The bus took like 40 hours, then we had to wait for the train then the train took 200 hours and by the time we finally got there it was a bit of a disappointment, so needless to say I'm happy we didn't climb for four days to get the view. Also we had to wake up at 6, which always makes me slightly grumpy. The train ride was actually fun because we sat with a very interesting Australian man and English woman, he has pretty much been travelling his whole life working onn oil briggs, then at a carnival, then installing telephone wires. He told us about his crazy experience in the amazon with a tribal hallucinogenic ritual, so we were kept entertained for the duration. When we actually got to Machu Pichu, it was very beautiful. The mountains are gigantic, the Inca village is slightly haunting and it makes for a gorgeous panoramic but in my opinion it's nothing compared to the snow-capped peaks of Huaraz, plus the view was entirely obscured by hoards of tourists, making it impossible to even take a picture without accidentally incorporating a nose, hat or arm into the frame. After we did the tour we had some time to kill before the night bus back so we decided to check out the hot springs. big mistake. possibly the grossest thing I've ever done.

Hot Springs - not nearly as organic and peaceful as I had imagined. Sure, you can kinda see the mountains but the springs are actually just unchlorinated, murky swimming pools on a block of concrete next to a dirty river filled to the brim with drunk backpackers and filthy asian men twirling their braided beards. did I mention the water is unchlorinated? I had to try really hard not to puke in my mouth as I stood in what was essentially a bathtub with a bunch of hygienically challenged strangers. Unless you're with a group of friends and really feeling the dirty, Bob-Marley hostel scene, and don't mind the idea of sharing lukewarm and unsterilised water with a bunch of strangers, stay away.

Places to go in Cusco:

Green!! on Tandapata street right off the main square (to the right if you're facing the cathedral) it's upstairs. Believe it or not I'm actually raving about an organic restaurant the likes of which I would have refused to enter a few months ago. But it's absolutely amazing and you can eat outside. It's particularly great if you happen to be gluten-intolerant, they have quinoa salad, lentil salad, the best mushrooms I've ever had in my life as well as chicken curry and shephards pie and all kinds of other things. It's really good, I highly reccomend it, pictures shown below. The restaurant below it is also AMAZING but in a much higher price range. The roast beef carpaccio is so good i ordered two and Jordan said his oso buco was amazing (I just take his word for it). Our other favorite Cusco restaurant is Qori Chaska, in a sunny courtyard next to an Irish pub. The special Peruvian chicken dish is soooo good.

aside from eating, walking around with Ali and Machu Pichu we saw some baby Alpacas, bought a TON of their sweater products and whatnot (and had so much fun in those little markets), watched a parade in the main square and did a whole lot of trip planning. If you're going to Peru, i would actually suggest skipping Cusco (gasp) if you're short on time because everywhere else we went felt much more authentic, we really felt a kinship with the people even just being there for a few days and Cusco felt like any big city with a Peruvian theme and a bunch of hagglers trying to get your money. Maybe I've just started disliking backpackers in my old age, but it seems to me we always have the best time in places that are not frequented by drunken adolescents or middle aged tourists who don't speak a word of Spanish and think that yelling in English will help them out. Still had a great time though, the highlight was definitely meeting up with Ali, hope you're having the best time in Panama! (will upload pictures soon, right now I'm in Bolivia and exhausted)