Before you get too far ahead of yourself that is the name of the place I went to today and is the site of a bloody battle between the incas and the spanish. The spanish won and there were so many dead incas that hords of condors decended on the place to eat the dead and that is why there are 8 condors on the Peru coat of arms. Last night I went to dinner near the Plaza. I had the whole restaurant to myself for over an hour. I went all out and had Pisco sour, rum based drink and Cuy. The Pisco was pretty average, it is made of rum,lemon juice and egg white. The lemon juice seems to sit in the bottom. The main course was cuy...Guinea Pig. Ashlea, before you start, they were eating them here long before they were pets in the west. What can I say, there´s not a lot of meat on the little b*****s. The crispy skin was nice but otherwise they are not a taste sensation. I kept getting my fork stuck in his ribs. The texture was like duck but I cant tell you what it tastes like.. fairly distinctive. I wilk also post some pics from the Plaza last night after dark when it was all lit up. This morning I went up to get my Boleto Touristico, tourist ticket, which I need for some of the sites around here. I was early so I decided to go look in the cathederal cos it was open. As I walked in I was told mass was on so tourists go to the side at 10 am. He neglected to say and pay a fee. I thought what if I wanted to pray? Shortly after some tourists with a guide came along and he let them in so I went back in, this time with success. I was very quiet and tried not to disturb them while I looked around. The place was impressive and for a while I just stood there looking at the old paintings. The mass was in spanish so I had no clue what was going on but all of a sudden the people around me were coming up to me and shaking my hand. I looked around and everyone was shaking someones hand. Dont tell me I gotta shake hands with everyone?? I got out of there fast. Outside I was pounced on by a guy in a suit who said I should buy something today cos it is a special day for the Incas. I cant remember what it was I was to buy. Anyway we talked for a while and he said wait there. He went off and got a bag and gave it to me and said open it. When I did it was an Inca idol and he said I should keep it. I said thanks and went to walk off when he hit me up for a ¨donation¨to the Inca kids fund. There is a sucker born every minute and I didnt see it coming. I gave him 10s and he complained so I said stick the idol and give my money back. He kept the money I kept the idol. So anyway I said I went for my tourist ticket. You pay the money to the local council. When they said it would be 130s, about $60aus, I told them to shove it. How can they justify that? The woman said that is the price for 16 sites if I wanted I could get ticket for 4 sites for 70s. That still didnt work out for me so I said I would sneek in or just look from the outside. Im sick of paying good money to look at stacks of rocks or religious paintings that I dont understand. This is exactly like Agra in India. If you have a few good places to look at charge the tourists what ever you want cos they will still come. Anyway I caught a cab to Saqsaywaman, the first place you need a tourist ticket. The ticket or 70s for 4 sites or 40s for just this one. From what I could see it was not original but reconstructed and while I was toying with the idea and young guy offered me a horse ride to the back of the ruins to the Temple of the Moon. I would rather give my money to indigenous people than a money hungry government so I said yes. The Indians are as bad as the govt. When we got to the horses he wanted me to pay for 2 horses, one for my guide. I said no. Then Carlos my guide took me to the Temple of the Moon where he said go up there. I dont know what the place is about so his mate conviently shows me around then asks for tip. I told him ¨be good to your mother¨. Then we ride of for a few minutes and Carlos said time over Plaza that way and tour is over. He left me in the bush. Luckily at the top of the hill so it was all down hill. On the way back I came to Qénqo just as a tour had arrived so I jumped on the back and got in. It wasnt very exciting but proof I can get in. Having seen the busses all morning while I was riding I now know I could not have seen the place myself this morning. It is huge and I think needs to be done on a tour. Just down from here I found Cristo Blanco, a statue of christ like the one in Brazil. You can see it from all over town but too small to photograph. From here it was down stairs, a hell of a lot of stairs, more than Tacquile the other day. My legs were like jelly by the bottom. Imagine going up??? The stairway bought me to San Blas a suburb of Cusco said to be the artisan section. It is high on the hill and is all narrow streets and hostels and artisan shops. It looks like a really nice area just not for me. I like the hustle and bustle of the city. As I said today is an improtant day for the Incas so there are people dressed up all over town. As I took a photo of one some one tried to get in front to stop me cos it was some kinda ceremony being filmed for TV. He was too slow. Then there was a procession going through town. I thought every district was represented but now I think it might have been every town, there were soo many. Wait till you see the pics. I picked up my tickets for the jungle today. I cant wait to get there. Im leaving here tomorrow to go to Pisac for the bigest markets in Peru then going to Urubamba to stay overnight. Then Ollantatambo and Aguas Callientes.