25/07/2019 – Day 1 in Cusco, Peru

We had a long lay in, no alarms, eye masks and earplugs in. Josh went and picked up some croissants and coffee from a place down the road and we had them in bed whilst catching up with mum, dad, Kate and Finn, Finn mostly shouting ‘poo poo head’ at us throughout! Then we caught up with Trudie and Pete. We showered and got ourselves together before leaving for a ramble around the city. We dropped some laundry in to the laundrette, then had a few jobs we needed to sort out. We went to both of the rail companies we have booked with via the internet to go to Machu Picchu to sort our tickets out, and then bought our entrance tickets for Machu Picchu itself. We then went a café with a view – called siete & siete, which had a beautiful panoramic view across the city. By this point we had been wandering for a good few hours, and definitely needed refuelling. We sat next to the window and filled our boots with delicious pasta. We walked round the corner to ‘monkey café’ and got some takeaway coffees for the road. It was a very bright day with blue skies, Josh even braved shorts, but we still had buffs, hats, scarves and jackets on. Even though it is cold, I think the sun is strong because we are so high, we must remember to put suncream on. The locals have wrinkled faces full of character and a sunhat with a neck cover is part of the children’s school uniform. We walked through the main square and to the office of Bioandean Excursions, the company through which we have booked our trek with. We popped in to make sure all was ok and on track, as we had booked online months ago. We left and started walking home when we heard the noise of crowds of people. All day there had been police lining up around the main square, armed and with big riot shields. There was a protest storming though the streets heading to the main square (not sure what it was about.)

We watched as it passed and then came across some groups of children in matching outfits, dancing to some drums. I think they were rehearsing for the big Peru festival on Saturday. We went to a supermarket on route to our hostel, and picked up some bits to make a snack for later and some fruit and cereal bars. We got home and tucked ourselves under the blankets again, to relax for the rest of the evening. We have met a friendly Peruvian guy at our hostel who is very spiritual, has given us (almost awkwardly) long hugs, and wants to give us shiatsu massages in exchange for practising his English, we shall see!