Rebecca and I clowning around at the Pisac ruins

Wow! It’s been a glorious ride.

Pisac Ruins and Market

Our taxi driver met us early to take us on our way to Cusco. First, we stopped in Pisac.

Unfortunately, we arrived so early, that there were no guides to hire. So we went through on our own and explored.

Scary looking doll, but was appropriate for my giving in to use the bathroom here.

Meanwhile, I really needed the restroom, but I walked in and they were just holes in the ground. Yikes!

I walked out, saw the doll with its hands up and it seemed appropriate. I decided to give in and use the hole in the ground.

The ruins here are interesting and there is a cave like entrance to move to the other side of the hill. What had me stumped was this hole/handle in the side of this stone. (Photo is down/to the right)

A “handle” in the stone

Outside the ruins, I sat down to drink some fresh fruit juice I bought from a vendor and was immediately accosted by three young girls desperate to sell their first items of the day. One of whom proceeded to point out a bracelet and ask me if I would buy it, when I said no she went on to the next bracelet. I kept thinking I could out last them, but there were no other tourists around for them to go after. After five minutes they wore me down and I bought a couple of bracelets.

Then it was on to the Pisac market.  Here I found a lot of beads and haggled a few prices down. Rebecca searched for the perfect blanket and found two, but was sorry that she hadn’t bought a blanket she had seen in Ollantaytambo.

The amazing stone work at Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman

Then it was on to Sacsayhuaman. This place is just above Cusco. Here we were lucky to find a guide. She walked us around and even showed us what locals use some of the plants for. And according to Peru lore, when it rains while it’s sunny an older woman will marry a younger man. Sounds good to me.

She told us about tunnels underneath the ruins where a team of people went in, only one person

People enjoying the smooth rock.

came out after a month or so. He swore there was a treasure. The tunnels have been closed for a long time so no one else gets lost down there. I’m not sure if all of that is true, but that would be amazing to be the eventual explorer to see it all (and hopefully not get lost).

Back to Cusco

Our overseas travel is almost over. From here we’ll be heading back to Lima. For tonight we’re staying in our old haunt, ecopackers.

Santo Domingo Cathedral

We wanted to see at least one cathedral here, so we headed to the Santo Domingo Cathedral and paid to get in for the tour. Luckily a young man pointed out that they have headphones with tours on them (in English).

Be in the know: Make sure to bring your Passport if you want the tour on headphones. It’s easy to follow, free, and helps to see the cathedral (no need to hire a guide and someone did try to get us to hire him).

Want to see more:
Day 32 Ollantaytambo, Salt Mines, and Moray, Peru
Day 34 Hop back to Costa Rica via Lima and Panama City

I’m Sonja Dewing. I’m an award winning creative writer, a published author of Toy of the Gods, an adventure in the Amazon. If you’d like a free copy of the prequel, Ire of the Gods, sign up for my email list and you’ll get it right away.