Day 10 SA - A day off in Cuzco

Well we are off the Inca Trail and have a free day in Cuzco. We start the day off by going to a Jewerly Work shop, where they work mainly in silver. We get a quick lesson on the jewerly making process starting with the ore to silver and then a lesson on semi-precious stones. Once this is over we of course have an opportunity to purchase some stuff. It is quite interesting. The man was raised as a jeweller, trained by his dad and grandad. Currently there are 27 family members making stuff at a couple of locations.

Julie found a lovely ring to buy, but unfortunately it has Australian opal vs. local stone, but it was the one she liked so bought it. This is the second ring on the holiday as a unique silver ring was also found in Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. The tour and spending took about 2 hours then we went off with Doug and Ruth for walk around Cuzco. Cuzco is a tourist town through and through feature a multi of shops all set to separating a tourist from there money. We did see some interesting religious sculptures featuring extra long necks, unfortunately photos were not allowed. After our shopping tour it was off to Paddy's Pub for lunch, Paddy's pub is the highest Irish Pub in the world, quite the claim to fame. Kind of dumb to go to an irish pub in Peru, but oh well it was good and featured a view of the Cuzco main square. Dawson and Julie then walked up to Sacasyhuaman ruins. This is another set of Inca ruins sitting on the slopes above Cuzco. Similar to other Inca ruins but featuring the smooth stone work and tight fit but with stones up to 300 tonnes in weight. The entrance fee was 70 sols each, not really worth it after our visit to Machu Piccu yesterday. We did visit the giant statue of Jesus Christ something which we are learning is a common item in Peru.

We headed back to our hotel for a nap before heading out for our Alpaca dinner. Alpaca tastes a lot like beef nothing special but we do get to check the "We ate Alpaca box". We are finding prices very reasonable here. Sometimes about half of what it would cost in Canada and sometimes about two thirds, but always less. We are still quite tired and look forward to an early night. Tomorrow we are heading to Puno on our only long bus ride. (typically we have been flying long distances).

Cheers Julie and Dawson