After breakfast and the obligatory coca tea, we set off this morning for Cusco. It will be a long day in the coach. Our tour guide, Rosario, overslept this morning and was met by a rousing cheer when she climbed on the bus ten minutes late.
At mid-morning, we stopped for a rest break in a small village. In the shop we used for our rest break, I purchased a pack of coca leaves covered in dark chocolate. I wish I had bought more as they are delicious and they only cost about 80 pence.
During the day, we passed many roadside markets where locals sold their wares or posed for photos with llamas and sheep for a small donation from the tourists eager to take them.
We stopped for lunch in a small café that appeared to be set up in a marquee tent. After I had eaten, I stepped outside. The good food, the warm sun, and the comfortable patch of grass I selected nearly had me nodding off to sleep, but we soon set off again.
After lunch, we visited an Inca temple complex called 'Raqchi'. Once again, I found myself amazed at the building that the Incas were able to construct so many years ago. If this type of complex were to be built today, it would never be finished, the planning permission alone would last for decades, and the 'Not In My Back Yard' brigade would certainly not allow building work to be carried out in such beautiful landscapes.
We arrived in Cusco and entered our hotel, where we were presented with a Pisco Sour. After a long day in the coach today, I had a sandwich and a beer in the hotel bar and then retired to my room for an early night.