Not too surprisingly the day that followed the Inca Trail and subsequent revelry was non to productive. Myself and two of the girls camped out in a cafe with good wifi and chilled, chatted, chomped and caught up on photos, Facebook, blog etc. At 4pm we thought we should at least wonder around the beautiful city that is Cusco, we crossed the main plaza took two photos and ended up in another cafe for coffee and cake. A group dinner took us back to the first cafe in the evening, and that was the extent of my exploring of Cusco. But it was really great to just have a day with no plans, buses, packing or tours. And the three of us had just mooched like we would have on a lazy Sunday back in our own hometowns. It continues to amaze me just how quickly you can become such good friends traveling, and to be able to sit and not talk the whole time just comfortable with our group silence, and then the level of humour and inappropriate remarks we could make with each was a whole different scale! I might not see these girls again as they live continents away, it doesn’t deter from the genuine moments of comedy genius we’ve shared.
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Our final long travel day a seven hour bus journey from Puno to Cusco. For me between some blog catch up and film on the iPad it flew by, for my other less seasoned travellers it was one more bus too many and they were all very glad it was over. Before I came on this trip the idea of a journey on a bus for more than two hours seemed hellish, but now I don’t flinch at a ten hour plus ride. That said our National Express service is not a patch on the majority of the buses I’ve come accustomed to!

We descended from Puno’s great height of 3830 and arrived in the relative lowness of Cusco at 3300. Still high, but we could already feel the slight increase in temperature, and easing up of breathing. We had a few hours that afternoon to potter before four of us girls headed out with our guide Jessica for an infamous club night “Fallen Angels”. The idea of lots of people in a dance club with wings on is great, the reality is totally annoying! We abandoned our wings after half and hour and had a great time. The others left me and Jess to it, and we checked out another of her favourite haunts. Me giving her a piggy back as the cobbled stones, high heels plus a few whiskies left her slightly less than able. The second place was a bit more local and a lot of fun. At 4am I bowed out as I needed to be up at 6am to pack and prepare my gear for the four day Inca Trek, much to her protestation!
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Before we left Arequipa the next morning, our little sub group headed back to the main square to visit the cathedral which was free entry early in the morning. That was ok, but the real brucey was we witnessed the start of an annual event celebrating the old inca messengers that ran 650 km from Arequipa to Cusco. They had a school group, a cadet group and a group of genuine marathon runners who will run as a tag team the while distance. They now use the event to promote sports and partnerships over the regions.

We left Arequipa by 8 on a bus that would be ours for the next three days with a driver and another guide and headed up higher into the Colca Canyon region. After an hour we passed the runner of the event that had set off early in the morning, he was at least forty going at a decent pace! The scenery of the open plains and snow capped volcanos opened up, this was the South America I was waiting up get my teeth back into. Unfortunately the bus journey was broken up by our guide on the microphone delivering potentially interesting information in a listless un-engaging fashion and I know I wasn’t the only one who wished she’d shut up. We stopped to take photos of lamas, alpaca and the sweet doe eyed Vicuña. We passed the highest point of the crossing at 4800, just getting on and off the bus for a few photos left us all panting! Chewing on coca leaves, drinking coca tea and plenty of water are all things that should help with the altitude.
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