Wednesday 16th March! 

We arrived in Cuzco at 5am! Got a taxi to the hostel and got told we couldn't check in till 10! So we sat down in the lounge all pretty tired until about 6am when the guy told us there was a room available! So we went to bed! 

Up at 10, got showered (finally a hot shower!) and headed out to explore Cuzco! 

The high-flying city of Cuzco sits at a 3300m crossroads of centuries-old Andean tradition and modern Peruvian life. As the continents oldest continuously inhabited city, it was once the Inca empire's foremost stronghold, and is now both the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas as well as one of the continents most stanchly preserved colonial living museums. Massive Inca built walls line the steep, narrow cobblestone streets and plazas thronged with the descendants of the mighty Incas and Spanish conquistadors - who hobble about in traditional wares among the hustle and bustle of contemporary cuzquenos making a living from the towns present day life blood: tourism. And lots of it!

We headed straight for a recommended restaurant called Jack's for a homey brunch (BLT!) then wondered through the markets (getting hassled by everyone!) as we were walking along one lady said 'photo' and plonked a baby alpaca in my arms then stood beside me while Joe took a pic, then demanded money! 

We went to find out about visiting Machu Picchu (we've decided not to do the Inca Trail due to funds and also I don't think I'm fit enough!) the first company we went to seemed overly desperate for us to book, (after checking with the tourist office we found out the company aren't registered!) we went with another company and are booked to go to Machu Picchu by train on Friday and stay overnight.

The boys headed back to the tourist office to make sure the company is legit (they are and no complaints) I waited outside... When the boys came out I was surrounded by ladies selling stuff (jewellery, alpaca socks, paintings, scarves - allsorts!) coming away with my purse lighter we went to an Internet cafe to look into visiting the Galapagos Islands!

We spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around being hassled by everyone (they seem to come to me and I can't ignore them and Joe is getting a bit pi**ed off!) 

After a trip to Mc Donalds we decided to book a tour of the Sacred Valley for tomorrow, having had enough of being hassled to buy stuff we headed back to the hostel for an early night!

Cuzco is a lovely place, we are gutted we spent too long in La Paz as we'd love to be able to spend longer here but time is catching up and with only 11.5 weeks left to cover 4 countries we're going to have to get a move on!