Malone Travels (London/Paris, Yucatan, Peru): Slight Change in Plans

So, we're not going to Puno in the morning. Amy is feeling really run-down and worn out after Machu Picchu and we had some hiccups with the tourist bus to Puno so we've decided to stay here in Cuzco for the next 3 nights. We're a little bummed about not seeing Lake Titicaca, but this will help our bodies recover from Wayna Picchu and the crazy schedule that we've been on. Nine hours on a bus each way and a 3 hour boat ride each way just doesn't sound like fun right now.

As a consolation, we're going to do a few really cool things here close to Cuzco. We're going to go to the market in Pisac, which is very popular, and we'll visit the ruins there as well (they're shaped like a condor.) We're also going to see a Incan dance/music show in the evening and we're going to visit some art museums and churches here in town. We've extended our stay here at Ninos (we love it!) and cancelled our reservations in Puno without any problems. We're pretty excited about the next few days and a slightly less hectic schedule.

Today was nice, we slept in a bit and had breakfast at Casa de Wow! and then we re-packed everything and made our way to the square to catch a taxi... instead a taxi found us. As soon as we reached the square a man named Mauro approached us asking if we need a taxi to Cuzco. "Cuantos?" I said? he offered 80, which was about what I expected and was willing to pay, but I countered with 70 and he accepted no problem. 70 soles is about $20, for a 90 minute scenic taxi ride, it's a great deal. We once took a taxi from downtown Chicago to one of the northern neighborhoods and paid about $80. Anyway, we had a pretty relaxing ride, we got to see more of the city of Chinchero and the city of Urubamba. I also took some pictures along the way, mostly of livestock and people working the land. We got to Ninos and ate lunch. Amy had the Indonesian Chicken Satay w/peanut sauce and I had some more dutch toasties with salami. Then we took a two hour nap and got up to try to figure out a tour bus for the morning, but first we stopped at the giant statue of Pachacuteq and got some pictures. It's pretty impressive. Pachacuteq was a very powerful Incan emperor who united the multiple tribes under the banner of the Inca. After we visited the statue, we stopped by two of the five or so tour bus operators to get our tickets, both of which were fully booked (or stuffed as they said.) So we came back to the room and decided to scrap the stress-inducing bus search and say in Cuzco for another two nights. We chilled out for a bit and then had dinner. I had the Indian Curried Chicken and Amy had dutch toasties with salami (we really like those things!) Tomorrow we sleep in. Enjoy the pictures from today!