There had been some debate as to how we World make the journey from Lima to Cusco. Gemma preferred the cheaper bus journey taking 20-odd hours (but would assist acclimatization to the high altitude), Craig favoured the one hour flight. In the end Craig just booked the flights anyway as he couldn´t face another long bus journey, nor did he want to lose another day to travelling.

Our hostel in Cusco the Pariwana, was a good one, the only set back being that we were in a dorm and everyone visiting Cusco is also trekking to Machu Picchu. The trekkers get picked up at crazy o´clock in the morning and those returning get back around 11pm. Consequently the dorm was noisy in the early morning and late at night. No-one really minded as they would be one of the noisy trekkers at some point during their stay in Cusco.

In fact our first job when we arrived in Cusco was to book our Machu Picchu trek. We tried one or two agencies in the city centre, but they wanted crazy money for a 4-5 day trek, around 3 times the price our hostel was proposing ($190 each). The Inca Trail itself was out as it gets booked up around 6 months in advance. We seriously considered the Choquequirao trek but it needed another 4 days (on top of 4 days for the Choquequirao trek) to reach Machu Picchu, so instead we opted for the Salkantay trek, a 5 day trek finishing in and including Machu Picchu. Pleased that we had just the trek we wanted at a great price we then set about enjoying 3 days in Cusco.

Cusco is a fantastic, colourful city, especially as the city was getting ready for Inti Raymi on 24th June it is Cusco´s main Inca festival (coinciding with the equinox). Daily from the break of dawn to gone 11pm the Plaza de Armas was filled with dancers, musicians and processions.

Cusco was the main Inca capital until the Spanish arrived, turned two warring Inca princes against each other, took over and destroyed all the Inca buildings they found. There are no Inca buildings left in Cusco, you can just see some of the foundations where the Spanish built their churches on top of the Inca stone buildings. On an excellent 11km walk from the city centre (which we did) it is possible to see the ruins of Sacsayhuaman (an Inca fort), Qonko (a huaca), Puca Pucara (a hunting lodge) and Tambo Machay (imperial baths). It was on this walk that when we stopped for lunch Gemma decided to try the oven roasted cuy (guinea pig!), it was more like "BBQ´d to a crisp" cuy. Craig didn´t want to try which was probably for the best as once you get past all the skin and bones there really isn´t very much meat, although it didn´t taste too bad Gemma decided it was more bother than it was worth so won´t be having it again. There are many more Inca ruins in the area but they are harder to get to, being much further away, and we didn´t want to be ´Inca ruined-out´ before going to Machu Picchu.

During the rest of our time in the city we pounded the streets admiring the many beautiful squares, visiting churches, wondering at the walls and foundations of Koricancha and souvenir shopping (wait until you see Gemma´s new boots!). We also went to 3 of the city´s museums including the Inca museum (which was by far the best). There are lots of bars and restaurants in Cusco, it is certainly a place for tourists, although we failed entirely to find a nightclub! This might have had something to do with the sub-zero temperatures. Neither of us have been anywhere so hot during the day and then so cold at night, between 27C and -7C.

We also spent a significant amount of time trying to plan a way into either Bolivia or Argentina as riots, demonstrations and roadblocks in Puno (Southern Peru, near the border to Bolivia) meant we couldn´t take the easy direct bus journey.

Overall we really enjoyed our time in Cusco, it is a pretty city with loads of charm and lots to do. It is very traveller friendly and we whiled away our few days here before the start of our trek.