Mar-29 Pisaq

I woke up early after a well-needed 12 hour nap, packed my bags, and moved in to South America Explorers.  For half the price, I have a nice bedroom with private bath and a shared kitchen.  It's funky, but the people are cool.

At the advice of SAE, I did my first solo venture in Peru.  I took a bus to Pisaq to see the Inca ruins.  There is a tourist "boleto" you can purchase for $130 soles ($45 USD) that gives you access to 14 different sites (ruins and museums) for 10 days.  I decided to buy it and do day trips from Cusco while waiting to find a trekking partner to hike 8 days in to Machu Picchu via Choquechirao.  The 1 hour bus ride up the windy roads to Pisac was uneventful.  I disembarked and headed for the town plaza de armas.  Since I had little info and no map, I stopped at the municipal office and the man was extremely helpful and pointed me in the right direction.

I hiked up to the ruins which took about an hour to cover 300m at this altitude huffing and puffing more than I would have liked.  The skies were overcast, but thankfully the weather held.

Inca Terraces at Pisaq

 The Inca terraces were dramatic as I ascended the stone steps.  I wished I had a guide or a brochure or at least some info.  Since I didn't plan my trip to Peru, I hadnt done any background reading.

Ruins at Pisaq and Inca terraces

Ruins at Pisaq

 The ruins were quite extensive and there was a large reconstruction effort underway.  I was one of very few people visiting that day, and I seemed to provide welcome respite to the workers moving stones to reconstruct the ruins.  The blonde and blue gringa.  All were very friendly.

Aerial view of some of the ruins at Pisac

 I took every trail I could find (no map) and once I felt that I had explored the site adequately, I descended back to town.  There is a large artist fair in town with lots of fun textiles.  I bought some gifts and some treats for me (alpaca scarves, hats, sweater, ring, necklace, and med duffel bag.  I think I spent $60 USD!  Ill be mailing another package home soon!

Vibrant textiles at the market in Pisac

I returned to Cusco and met up with Ryan, my neighbor from Kansas City at SAE.  We had a good 2 course dinner for $17 soles (wish I could do that at home!) and went to a reggae bar.  Reggae is huge in South America.  We returned reasonably early and dug thru the movie collection at SAE.  I unearthed a copy of El Padrino (the Godfather).  It was so nice to kick back and watch a movie, even though I only made it through the first third of it.