Today's pace was much slower, which is a good thing because Greg is tired. After a later start and finding a Starbucks in the Plaza de Armas, Juan took us for a walking tour of Cusco.
On the main street are paid workers in traditional dress and a plastic carnival mask holding a sign: respect the crosswalks - their way of discouraging jaywalking. The cars have the right of way, and don't care about you. Suddenly Juan jumped into the path of an oncoming bus to swoop up a young boy ~3 who was not moving off the street quickly enough (and mama was oblivious).
After walking passed the stone with 12 edges, and touring Qorikancha (Inca's huge gold religious center/ Temple of the Sun), we went to the San Pedro market. We saw so many strange sights! Of course the most unusual was the llama fetus, but they also had breads, fish (piles of fish eggs), many varieties of potatoes, fresh produce, flowers, chicha (corn beer), and fresh blended fruit smoothies. Since we couldn't barter down the price of the pig's head, our only purchase was bags of coco leaves for the trail tomorrow.
Next Juan took us to the Handicraft Center (large souvenir market), where we bid each other our "hasta la vista" since we cannot say goodbye. It was actually a huge downer; he was just amazing these past few days!
After making more purchases than we have room for, we enjoyed a late lunch on the patio of Pachapapa on the San Blas square. Unfortunately we could not order the guinea pig, an Andean delicacy, because they need 24 hour notice. Darn. So we had to settle for pizza and calzone from the adobe oven.
It is amazing how quickly our bodies produce more red blood cells to help us acclimate to this high altitude! Each time we climb the hill to our hotel, it is noticeably easier and easier.
Tonight we checked into tomorrow's 4 day 3 night Inca Trail tour and found out we are the oldest ones in a group of nine. I am excluding the 59 year old as the outlier. The rest are in their 20s and from Israel, Belgium and the UK. We will be hiking as high as 13,776 feet, and then down to Machu Picchu. They described the 1st day as easy, the 2nd as challenging, the 3rd as unforgettable, and the last as unique.
We just spent the last hour weighing our bags, taking stuff out, and weighing them again. We hired a porter to carry 6kg (each) for us, which turns out to be a sleeping bag and mat plus a change of clothes. The rest of or supplies we have to carry in our daypack. Mine weighs about 12 pounds - ugh. I can't get any lighter - that is seriously all basics, except for my camera which I refuse to give up! Greg's bag is 10 pounds.
Tomorrow is an early morning - our bus picks us up at 5:15pm. We "go dark" for the next three nights... The Inca didn't have wi-fi on the trail!
Hasta la vista!
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