Post Picchu and Puno

Now that our Machu Picchu experience was over, it was time to head back to Cusco for a celebratory drink or two or three.... After a train journey from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, we hopped into a minivan that took us the rest of the way to Cusco. We had managed to buy some Cusquena beer in Aguas Calientes and we began to consume that on the train/minivan journey back. I was so exhausted at one stage that I fell asleep with a newly opened beer in my hands. I was astounded to find that when I woke up, I was still holding the beer and hadn't spilled it! Needless to say, I downed it then and there.

The nap served me well as when we arrived in Cusco we hit the town with a vengeance. To cut a long story short we dressed up in what we called "free spirit pants" and the standard quechua style beanies (as you have seen me wearing in numerous pics) for the evening. The free spirit pants are all garish colours, made out of cotton, and are usually found on European hippies trapsing through Peru on some sort of existential journey. All in all we were taking the piss. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the oufits so I will have to bludge some off my companions and post them sometime.

The night was great fun, heaps of drinks, white-guy dancing and bad Spanish. A 5:30 morning ensued and was inevitably followed up with not waking till 2:30 in the afternoon! Tried to do some further sightseeing at that stage, but most places were shutting up by the time got all organised. It was a shame cause I missed seeing the Santo Domingo church and monastery, which is constructed over an older Incan temple. Our guide Kike said it was one of the must-see spots in Cusco. The Incan temple, the Temple of the Sun (or Koricancha in Quechua), was the holiest shrine in the Incan religion. It was pretty poor organisation from me as the church was right next door to our hotel. Oh well, I guess it's a good excuse to go back to Cusco again someday, as I would love to! Simon & I did manage to catch the Inca Museum which was interesting and gave a nice overall account of the rise (and fall) of the Incan empire and the Quechua people. It was mostly all familar as I had picked it up over my many visits to museums throughout Peru, but it was nice to bring it all together. The rich history of Peru, especially the Incan and Conquista, fascinates me and it is one of the major things I will take out of my time in Peru.

Next stop on the tour was Puno in southern Peru. Puno is on the shore of Lake Titicaca, which is the area from where the Incas originated. Puno is the main stop off point for people heading off to see the famous floating reed islands and spend the night at homestays with native families on some of the normal-earth based islands! Puno itself is a bit of a hole, but not quite at the level of Pisco and Nazca. The first day "in" Puno was spent mostly on bus travel from Cusco, which took 7 hours, and an early night as the next day entailed a 8am start to head out on the Lake.