26/07/2019 – Rest day, Cusco, Peru

We woke up early, both having had an awful sleep, which we blame the altitude for. It was Uncle Mikes funeral today so we streamed the memorial service online as soon as we woke up. Understandably I think Josh found it difficult to not be there to support his family, mainly his dad, but I think it was good to be able to see the service and at least feel a little bit involved. Afterwards Josh rang his dad and spoke to his family briefly. Then we spoke to Richie on Facetime, it was so nice to catch up! He is in England for the summer after two years in Uganda, and moves to Manila in the Philippines in two weeks time! We were checking into the hostel we had originally booked today, so scooped a couple of bags together and went down the road to ‘Chusay rooftop hostel.’ Because it had been their mistake we were allowed to go there and have breakfast. We actually think they overbook themselves on purpose so as to account for no shows and cancellations as we saw a few more people being turned away whilst we were checking in! The new hostel is much more comfortable, warmer, friendlier, and has a beautiful rooftop conservatory with a stunning view across Cusco. We actually booked to stay here about 3 months ago, as we noticed hostels were being booked up in Cusco for our dates. It is peak season for Machu Picchu but in addition, unbeknown to us at the time, there is a big Peru-wide festival this weekend so lots of people have congregated here to celebrate and party. We had our breakfast and then went back over the road to get the rest of our belongings. We brought our bags to Chusay Hostel and sat in the lounge whilst the room was being prepared. We met a family from Holland who were very friendly, so chatted away with them whilst we waited. They gave us a few tips for Cusco and for Huacachino (somewhere we plan to go afterwards) and also gave us some natural tablets for altitude sickness (not sure if we will use but kind of them all the same!) We got shown to our room, a nice big double bed and even a rail with a few coat hangers on, very unusual for hostel life! We got settled in, and enjoyed a hot shower. We walked down the road to the Orion supermarket and bought a few groceries, and bought a huge avocado from a street vendor. We went back and made ourselves scrambled eggs and avocado and then went up to enjoy the warmth on the roof terrace. After a while we went back to our room and I had a nap, Josh edited some photos. We got ourselves up as the sun was going down and watched it get dark from the roof terrace. Then we walked into town, enjoying the vibrant Friday night atmosphere. We walked to and around the main square and then back home to make some dinner. We made a big tuna sweetcorn pasta then got ourselves into bed and fell asleep watching The Mask.