Cusco, Peru

Monday 7th July This was our last full day in Cusco. We chose to have the day to ourselves and that started with an early morning walk for Mark and I. You have to be careful when out walking at this earlier hour. Less traffic means that the cars and ‘killer combies’ that are out travel much faster. The traffic police don’t wear crash helmets for nothing!!! The killer combies are a Lat Am, if not Peruvian, phenomenon. They are the cheap and preferred mode of transport for locals. They are privately owned mini buses that zoom around picking up and dropping off at the owners’ discretion. The pollution even at this hour is significant. The cars here are old, in need of tuning and run on leaded petrol. Choking stuff. We then went down to the Plaza again for breakfast to soak up our last morning view of the Cathedral and this beautiful square. We decided to take a walk around the back Calles of central Cusco and ventured up to the local San Pedro markets. This may not have been such a good idea. We saw where the restaurants and hotels source most of their meat, fish and other produce from. The appropriate phrase here is ‘no hygenicos’. Further wandering enabled us to source alternative accommodation should we ever return to Cusco. My Spanish classmates should take note: The 4 stars Novotel or 3 stars Best Western look good with both being just a short walk from the Plaza de Armas. The Cusco Plaza 2, our hotel, is a definite NO! Dinner that night was at our favourite place, The Inka Grill, located adjacent to the Cathedral in the Plaza. It is a must for any visitor to this area. Avoid the Alpaca though. Mark has had this twice now in Cusco with unpleasant results!