Breathe in, breathe out, put one foot in front of the other

Its Sunday, and Sunday is market day in Pisaq. So we joined the
locals on a crowded...and I mean very crowded minibus to Pisaq, 30 km
North of Cuzco. There was barely enough room for the two of us to get
on the bus, and then they crowded 6 more people on after us. Much
more of an adventure than a simple taxi ride. And cheaper too at
about $0.75. Pisaq market was a very crowded flea market with local
farmers selling their vegetables and other people selling their
tourist fares. Like any good flea market there were the odd stalls.
Some selling ancient cameras, giant ornate knives, and some with just
rocks. Chess sets were unusually popular. There were more chess sets
there than chess players in all of Peru I guessed. The most popular
sets allowed you to recreate or rewrite history with the Spaniards on
one side and the Incas on the other. Lots of alpaca clothing and
blankets of course. There were several children skilled in the art of
selling. They were carrying around baby alpacas, puppies, sheep,
anything the looked cute trying to get a picture out of you...and a
small commission of course. They rarely took no for an answer the
first, second, or third time. Cute kids though. Lunch at a small
cafe and then we attacked the Pisaq ruins. The ruins, like all Inca
ruins are located much higher than anyone of us wanted to climb.
Great for safety from invaders, tiring for us out of shape tourists.
(We had to stop and breathe about every 15 steps) In all we climbed
around 1600 feet to the highest point. Starting at 10,000 ft didn´t
give us much oxygen to start with either. This Inca Trail to Machu
Pichu might be more difficult than we thought. The height gave us
some excellent pictures of the nearby towns and mountains. Inside the
ruins we saw an Inka shower. There didn´t appear to be a hot water
option. After another crowded minibus ride back to Cuzco we snapped
several night shots of the town square. With the long exposure times,
night shots appear a little different than you thought. There are two
churches on the town square, with 3 clocks between them, and none
showing the right time. Dinner at a local tapas bar, and excellent
dessert at an ice cream shop. Their claim to fame was ice cream
shaped like unusual foods. I.E. pizza, spaghetti, and even the
Flintstones car, all shaped from colored ice cream. I.E. vanilla ice
cream strings for the spaghetti and a red fruit ice cream on top for
the sauce. Neat concept.

One last day of rest in Cuzco and we start the Inca Trail on Tuesday.
Hope everyone is staying dry and safe from Edouard back in the TX.