Time to leave La Paz! We are getting accustomed to this journey now - it being our third time at La Paz airport. Our taxi seemed to be booked very early (I think the hotel receptionist just needed a ride at that time) so we got to the airport in plenty of time. Strangely, the international departures area was much smaller and less well fit out than the domestic one, albeit with a massage parlour. We settled down to wait for our plane, spending our last twenty three Bolivianos on an "Empanado con queso" and a bottle of water I successfully haggled for as we didn't have enough money. It was a relief not to be subject to an airport tax (which can be $25pp), we weren't quite sure whether this was included in our ticket.
Our plane was large by recent standards, and turned out to be carrying on to Lima. Flying We (and our baggage) successfully disembarked at Cusco however, being given free water on the way out! I had asked for "sin gas" and the bottle read as such, yet when I opened the bottle at was definitely "con gas". Disappointing - but our depleting bottle collection got a much needed boost.
We couldn't find our booked taxi (possibly because our flight had taken off and landed twenty minutes early - so we picked one that looked fairly professional. He drove us into Cusco, kindly taking us a long way around to give us a guided tour of what is effectively the high street, before ousting us over a kilometre from our hostel because "the road was being dug up". Admittedly this particular road was being dug up, but the one our hostel was on wasn't, and there was a fairly simple three-sides-of-a-rectangle workaround. However, we found ourselves walking along the pavement beside said dug-up and very muddy road. I had noticed that the locals tend to carry everything (market stalls, food, toddlers) on their backs in big swathes of cloth, but until I came to drag my bag along the pavement didn't fully understand the reasoning behind this. The uneven surface and large holes soon made this impossible and my bag was converted to rucksack-mode for the reminder of the walk. Large staircase defeated, we found our hostel, which, thanks to the gain in height, had a great view over the city! We also had a room for six to ourselves which was nice - and it boasted carpet which I had forgotten existed.
A quick turnaround and we were back in Cusco, looking at things to do for the next day. After a disappointing lunch (not sure the people here like us....) settled on a full day tour of the Sacred Valley for tomorrow. In the afternoon we visited Quoricancha - a religious collection of buildings which was an interesting mix of colonial and Inca architecture. The Inca sections demonstrated the accurate cutting and placing of stones to build. Also apparent was the strength of the earthquakes in 1650 and 1950, from the huge cracks in the stone.
The whole of Cusco is a fascinating mix of architecture, but everything marries well, tied together by large plazas and cobbled streets. In the evening we explored the city itself, having a much more successful meal (where we witnessed roasted guinea pigs being eaten - not something I fancied myself!) before returning to our hostel ready for an early start the next day.
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