So today started off bitter sweet because late last night we had to say goodbye to our friend Beth who was heading out on another journey to La Paz. This was our free day off in Cusco so there were no activities officially planned for the group. We had a “sleep in”, which meant we slept until about 8:30 am because we needed to get to breakfast by 9:00 if we wanted it for free in our hotel.
With our Macchu Pichu tour tickets, we were given 2 free tickets to visit a church and a monastery. Though most of the group was checking out those wonderful historic sites, we were not so interested in one more day filled with ABC. We made a plan to meet them at this restaurant in town called Jack’s at around noon. After a lazy hour or so of showering and some internet catch-up, we met up with Daniel headed out for the day. Our first stop was to return the sleeping bags and poles that we had rented in Cusco. It was a relief to give back the equipment and get back our collateral- a medicare card and student ID. The only reason renting the equipment was an issue, was that we had decided to rent independently, instead of through the group because we were able to save quite a few bucks this way. Then we ventured into a Peruvian McDonalds (not the last of the trip) where we stood shocked by their full denim on denim uniforms, almost missing their breakfast hours. Thankfully Daniel ordered just in time and we were all energized for the rest of the morning.
Then we headed out to the sites where we had free tickets too and decided we would scalp our free church and monastery tickets and make some money for lunch! So off we went to join the tourism industry of street vendors. We stood outside the church for a few minutes and got rejected once before selling our first ticket which was worth 25 soles to some German tourists for $20 each. The transaction was quick and easy. The second set of tickets were much harder to sell and quite a walk from the main square. There didn’t seem to be anyone entering or even coming close to the monastary! After a few rejections and some reapplication of sunscreen, we were approached by a man who notice our inability to find any buyers and offered to buy our tickets (for less then our asking price). We assumed he was a tour guide and would re-sell them for full price but we did not care as we wanted to get on with our day and had plans to meet the group.
With our wallets full, we headed to a restaurant called Jack’s that our friends had eaten at the night before the hike and raved about. Boy, were they not lying! This place was amazing and you could tell it had been in the lonely planet because Jack’s was full of tourists and had a very nice American health-food type feel to it. We were waiting in line for a table when we noticed a group of girls sitting by the door. This was a group of girls we had kept bumping into ever since Puno we kid you not. We decided it was time to approach them and asked if they had noticed too but Daniel insisted they were way to “posh” and would not waste their time on us. So we grabbed a table without saying hello and waited for our group to meet us. Unfortunately after 15 or so minutes, it was clear that they were not going to show, so we switched to a smaller table and decided to splurge. We both had these delicious strawberry-lime frappes that were to die for. Then Daniel had a hamburger, Emily a veggie burger, and Lisa French toast. We then ordered a chocolate cake for dessert but had to take it to go because we were so so full.
Having procrastinated buying souvenirs the entire trip, we were off to the market after lunch. Having expected the market to be great in Cusco, we were disappointed with the lack of bargaining the people were willing to partake in. They were firm in not dropping their prices much more than the asking price! We grew frustrated and overwhelmed but we managed to buy all of our gifts and left the market slightly stressed. Luckily the sun was shining and we consoled ourselves with these amazing mango popsicles and chocolate cake. Then we headed back to the hotel and changed into some fresh clothes before heading to a nearby corner store.
Because tonight was the last night that the whole group was together, since about a quarter of the group was going home and not to the jungle, there was a big dinner planned at what we heard was a fancy restaurant. With our spending money running out, the three of us decided to buy some alcohol and pre-drink before dinner. So at this nearby shop, we bought some pisco and sprite and made a Peruvian version of Vodka7. We barely had time to drink them before we had to go so we transferred the concoction into water bottles and went on our way.
The restaurant we went to was really nice and had a great roof-top view. We took some photos, ate some food, drank a little too much and really enjoyed ourselves. Then we all planned to go out after and ended up spending the night at an Irish pub before heading next door for a game of darts. Not too later we headed to bed since we were all tired and had an early morning flight to the JUNGLE!
