From Puno to Cusco

- Yet another day of waking up at 5:45am. We were to catch the First Class coach to Cusco. This was a tourist bus that included a guide and a few stops while en route to Cusco. We booked our seats two days in advance so we had the seat right behind the driver - an unobstructed view.

- The guide was very enthusiastic as usual, but he had a thick accent so I had a lot of problem understanding what he was saying.

- Stops included the Pukara Museo, Artesanos, La Raya at 4300m, Sicuani where we had a buffet lunch, Raqchi an Inca ruin of significance, and Andahuaylillas the church.

- I finally had a chance to touch llamas and alpacas. There was a baby alpaca and it was adorable. They're all very tame and soft. I really had the urge to get something made of alpaca fur for myself.

- Arrived at Cusco at around 5:30pm. This was probably the only bus in Peru that kept to its schedule. We then checked in with Andean Life for our Inca Trail tour. After that, we searched for other possible tours for our next few days in Cusco and we came across a 3-day tour to the Manu Biosphere Reserve. It was quite expensive but we were really tempted. Down sides: we were over budget, out of cash, a three day tour would be really rushed, we would have no time for Cusco at all (i.e. the city, Sacred Valley, etc.), we wouldn't be acclimatizing the next two days before the Inca Trail (although we were acclimatized to a higher altitude in Puno for 3 days)

- But we also thought we've seen enough ruins and museums along the way, and we'd be seeing more Inca ruins the next four days. Also, Peru is famous for its three geographical terrains. We couldn't leave Peru without having visited its rainforest. So... we said yes! It was surreal... It meant we had to get up bright and early again the following day!

- We went back to the hostel to get some rest. While I was taking a shower, it ran out of water! And that was after I've applied soap on my body!! I had to make good use of the few drops of cold water dripping off the shower to rinse myself. I sure got out of the shower as quickly as I could.

- It was a pain to pack for what we needed the next three days. We weren't going to carry our big backpacks so we had to think carefully what we really needed and squeeze everything into our daypacks. We were still trying to adapt to the idea that we were headed to the rainforest in less than 12 hours while packing. I was seriously short of clothing because I wasn't expecting a side excursion where I would be sweating lots. Yet I still refused to and managed to go on without doing any laundry! ;-)

- And we went to sleep ASAP...