Cuzco

Today was a stay put day. I had breakfast with Jannicke and a couple of her friends and then we went for a walk around the city. This city is very touristy because of the Inca Trail. There are lots of tourists here year around to hike the trail and visit other sites nearby. It seems everyone in this city is selling something. There are tons of shops. After Jannicke left for the airport, I went back to the local market to take more photos. The one I posted last night is
of a pile of cow mouths. I think they are for sale for cooking. But, nothing is refrigerated and there are enough gross body parts to throw you off eating meat for years. And the smell...yikes, it smells like rotten meat. Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around exploring and taking photos. I tried to take pictures of local people doing their thing, like the little girl who seemed to find me interesting and the woman who was obviously bored by her job. As
I was walking around a door opened and I peaked inside and found a school yard. There was a class playing a relay type game. I went in and asked if I could look around. The woman was a teacher there and she took me to the principal who agreed to let me see some of the classes and take photos. It was an inner city school and she said they have very poor, tough kids there. They all wear uniforms. They don't have much in the way of supplies but they
were reading, writing and doing math. Interesting place. Then I came back to my hotel to meet the next group of people I am going to travel with. This is the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The trail is a three day 35 km hike up and down hills, all at an altitude of about 4000metres. So, it is challenging and altitude sickness does affect some people. Hopefully I'll be fine. We are sleeping in two people tents and the temperature will be quite cool, especially at night. I
have met my new bunkie. His name is Mark and he is from Perth Australia. Spent the rest of the evening packing for the hike. You don't take everything, just a day pack and a duffle bag that you pack with sleeping bag, air mattress and extra clothes. The porters carry the duffle bag. The rest of my things I leave here in a locked room in the hotel. I will be out of touch with all of you until Sunday evening as I'm not taking my computer with me. So, until Sunday have a good rest of your week and a great weekend.