So, a 'travel' day now means a day where we explore so much of the country as we travel. Up early as it was a long trek from Puno to Cusco, with the sun barely rising across the square as we went to catch our bus.

After a few hours of travel, our first stop was in Pukara, a small pre Incan town. We were lucky today as the markets are only open on Thursday's....and we were travelling through on a Thursday! After a stop in a shop for some history of the area and their souvenirs, we headed for a tour of the main part of town. So, we saw the main square and adjoining church and were done! :)

Next stop was the local market. It took a little bit to get used to. They're obviously not used to giant outsiders coming to gander at their wares, as every single cover for every stall was about shoulder height for me! Anyhow, it was actually pretty gross to begin with, as they use every single piece of any animal, and the first stall was selling sheep pieces. So there, sitting on the floor was a pile of sheep heads. I refused to take a photo as that's an image I'm not sure will ever leave me so I'm not inflicting it on anyone else!! Thankfully, that part of the market doesn't last too long and then we headed into fruit and veggies and miscellaneous bits and pieces.

Back onto the bus for a few more hours of a drive, and then we stopped kind of in the middle of no where for a buffet lunch. The view all drive had been amazing, with so many different landscapes. The picture for this day's entry was actually the view from where I sat for lunch - amazing!

We didn't have too long to enjoy the food (the desserts were particularly nice!) before we headed out yet again. This time, the stop was for our first Incan ruins, in Raqchi and also our first sighting of Inca Trail (there's actually about 40,000km of Inca Trail - you only walk a small part into Macchu Pichu!). It was hot, we were tired and there was no shade so needless to say, we were a bit restless when we were being shown around. I only have a few photos. I just marvelled at how the local kids, aged from 2 or 3 to about 8 years, were playing right next to a dam without any adult supervision...you'd need an awful lot more supervision and paperwork for that to happen at home!! They were having a great time though.

From here, we headed to our stop for the next couple of nights - Cusco, the capital and heart of the Incan Empire. A quick change, and we headed to a restaurant that was recommended for it's wood fired pizza. I ordered a pizza with alpaca ham and was a bit disappointed as the meat had been cured similar to proscuitto. It was a bit tough so I ended up removing some of it! First cocktail of the night was very nice though!

Last stop (for my night at least), was a tourist bar just off the main square of Cusco. I lasted one drink before I walked back to the hotel...all this travelling is wearing me out! ;)