January 12, 2014

The day following our most epic adventure to the top of Machu Picchu and back, we did very little.  There was a lot of movie watching and  recovering on the couch, however we did manage to make it down to the black market for an hour or so. We were told by our hostel owner not to go and that gringos usually get robbed but we took very little and had no problems at all.  Although I would venture to guess that some of the merchandise once belonged to some less fortunate gringos who maybe brought too much along. Lots of nice looking cameras, iphones, and other electronics all for very good prices. Brent happened to be looking for a knife, which he found no problem and we returned to our hostel for more relaxation. Finally, we were hungry enough to peel ourselves off the couch and head down to Mr. Soup. This ended up being one of our favorite gastronomic experiences while in Peru. Specializing in a variety of amazing soups and hot teas, it was just what we needed to recoup after our trek. I strongly suggest paying them a visit and ordering the Curry Udon soup and Pisco tea. With warm, full bellies we headed back to hostel for a great nights sleep.

The next day we took the local bus up to Pisac for the Sunday markets and lunch. It was a beautiful drive and the market was certainly impressive. It has many of the same handicrafts/souvenirs you see every where else but there was definitely a lot more variety and choice. I would suggest this market over many of the others we have been to while in Peru. After perusing the many streets worth of vendors, we had worked up a pretty good appetite. We were hoping to eat from one of the ladies cooking in the market but for whatever reason there was only one and she was slammed. So we opted for some fresh orange juice and home-made banana cake to hold us over and ended up settling for one of the restaurants with a balcony overlooking the market. We enjoyed some hot drinks, mediocre food, and great people watching before heading back to the bus for Cusco. Which ended up being quite the bus ride. On a bus that would normally hold maybe 30 passengers, I would estimate there were probably 55. Several of which were crammed in the area designated for the driver. Julie might as well have been sitting in his lap. Brent was too tall to actually be standing in this bus and probably would have been more comfortable putting his head in the overhead compartment. I happened to be sitting on the back of a small Peruvian woman who was some how underneath me. Needless to say it was a long hour back but we got a pretty good giggle out of the experience.