Long ride to Cusco

Wednesday, September 21
We're on an early bus to Cusco - a seven hour journey, but in relative comfort. We only make one stop en route, but we are well supplied with snacks and their is a toilet on board. (Note for Alice: this is the ride where the incident of the rolling-tampon took place.)We are pleased that by taking an earlier bus than the original schedule, we'll have some time to explore the town of Cusco. When we check into the Cusco Plaza II, it is a big disappointment - mould in some of the rooms, bad service, intermittent hot water, not enough towels; the list goes on. Before the end of the trip we have a long list of complaints and a strong suggestion forwarded to gap headoffice to consider using another hotel. The place is buzzing with other Gap Adventurers, so I think the company has some leverage here. Manuel leads us on an orientation tour through the main square, ending up in the bustling local market. It looks like the place where locals come to shop.

The merchandise is piled in high. There is every kind of produce imaginable - the array is vast and varied. In the meat section, the displays of animal parts are interesting from an artistic perspective, but slightly nauseating. A dogs runs by carrying a large bone, possibly pilfered from one of the stalls. Peter snaps a photo of a cell phone nestling in a mound of brains. I blanche at the line up of horses' heads. We stop for a taste of frog soup, avoiding the little legs floating in the ladle. Moving along we head to some more touristy markets where we poke around looking for the exact right souvenirs and gifts to spend our tourist money on. I find a wide brimmed sun hat which becomes indispensible in the next few days.
Tonight we have to re-organize our luggage again and pack into the duffel bags provided for the Inka trail. We have already had a briefing on how to prepare for this part of the adventure. Manuel goes over everything again. We are allowed a maximum of 6 kg in our duffels and 3 kg of these will be taken up by a sleeping bag and therma-rest. There is a scale at the front desk and it takes me several tries before I have pared down my pack to fit the weight limit.