We left Puno and Lake Titicaca and drove across the altiplano, the high plains separating the Andes from the jungles. Although it was quite a long drive, the scenery was interesting and often spectacular. We stopped at Pukara, a pre-Inca town where the stone work seemed to indicate that they had a penchant for chopping off heads and eating children! We next stopped at La Raya Pass, the watershed and geographical dividing line between the altiplano and the Vilcanota Valley where a Raqchi Inca temple is located along with well thought out storage areas for food - the Incas were masters at preservation - these were the Inca equivalent of today's massive supermarket distribution depots.
We arrived in Cuzco early evening and after initial trek briefings we headed into the town - a lovely square that importantly had a North face shop - John and I needed a down jacket each for the cold Andean nights coming up and probably made the quickest purchases in history - we topped the evening off with a lovely Starbucks coffee and half a cinnamon roll!