Cusco costs...

By the time we arrived at Cusco we were all a bit tired, the journey was with a different bus company and the profits were definitely not re-invested into suspension! That along with a bus full of American highschool students didn´t help. We did however stop at a viewpoint when we were close to Cusco. I say viewpoint what I actually mean was a mugging point. SELL SELL SELL!! Locals in costumes ´selling´the opportunity to take a pic of them, stalls of alpaca fur goods etc etc. We should have seen it as a warning. One lady did something unheard of really, she GAVE Bodhi a hat...gratis? for free? Didn´t even ask for money for it, probably just thought he was cute? I was wrong footed!

We made it into Cusco and I started the perpetual taxi price haggle game. The guy wanted 10 solés but I offered 5. We walked away. Then out of nowhere 2 drivers came at me offering 7 sol´s, 6 solés...haggle war began! lol! I couldn´t realy be too bothered really so just settled with 6 solés guy and off we went for the hostel.

Cusco seemed much more ´traditional´than the rest of the places we´d been to. The other places seemed ´colonially spanish´whereas Cusco had a definite Inkan feel to it, we were positive. The Hostel was in the artisan area of Cusco, San Blas. We headed through the back roads of cusco which were all cobbled stones and tight as hell, strange road rules here. The Hostel was called Hospidaje Familiar Kuntur Wasi and when we arrived we were fairly happy until the woman there stated the huge list of extras! 5 Solés for using the kitchen...1 solés for hot water.....2 solés for internet etc etc etc....

We dropped the bags and headed downhill towards the Plaza del armas to get a bite to eat (habitual?) but instead of the sleepy town we were expected we were hit with it...TOURISTA! "wanna buy a doll?"..."wanna buy a painting?"...wanna buy a....wanna buy a....wanna buy a....
It didn´t abate all night, we dipped into a pizza place to eat thinking we´d escape but no. The litte buggers camne to the table!! We ´hid´at the pizza place for a while and even that cost us. We paid 130 solés for the food and drink! Compare that to the 20 solés we´re used to paying up to now and you can tell that we weren´t happy! Turning to get back to our room we realised that all those steps we came down now needed to be climbed! Sh*t!! Sweaty and tired we got back and figured we could hit the sack and get some well earned rest. Bodhi had other ideas. He was that overtired he just went on one. He cried...cried....cried....and cried! The woman who owned the hostel even came and knocked on the door to ask if we needed any help. I managed to wrap him up well and took him out in the side streets pushing him in the stroller until he fell fast asleep - eventually.

The next day we decided to use the Macpac baby carrier, those stairs were just too much for us last night. We found a good German Café and filled up for the day on bread, avocado, eggs and coffee. Bodhi ate his banana and seemed a happy little bunny - stark contrast from last night! We decided to walk to the square via side streets and slowly began to relax into the place and see past the commercial cancer that was so evident last night. It really is a pretty town. We actually bought the girls some traditional peruvian dolls from one lady and then started quizzing her about the blanket she was carrying her child in. It´s a traditional ´Manta´which is a blanket tied in a special way to carry children so...off we went and duly bought one! 20 solés...bloody life saver! Now Bodhi can sleep while we walk around and we don´t need to take the pushchair everywere. After doing some jobs, buying the ´Boletta touristica´which allows us to visit various Inka sites, getting mney from the ATM, buying flights to Lima (we decided it was just too much for Bo to do a 22 hour trip on a bus!...at least that´s what claire´s telling herself! lol!) we headed back to a little place in the back streets we´d seen for lunch...15 solés - much better. There is an Inka ruin on the edge of Cusco called Saqsayhuaman so we trekked off up there for the afternoon and started to feel a lot less claustaphobic as we walked around...until Bodhi started again. He gets so overtired! Out came the manta, we wrapped him up and walked around before he fell fast asleep all snug in his little blanket haven.

We´d booked a cab for the following day to take us to Ollantaytambo as we just wanted to get there quick and easy and the option of local buses to Pisac then to Ollantaytambo with Bo and all the bags, or even the Collectivos, seemed too much hard work. This option left us with a free morning so off we headed for another start at the German Cafe, a look around the shops and back alleys. I very nearly even bought a Peruvian trilby!! Thought it would be very fetching on the allotment ;o) but as Claire pointed out they´re made of felt and would just die in the rain...but...watch this space...