On our way to Cuzco, Peru

Satuday dawned again with excellent weather and the most annoying patter of pigeons on our roof. In a place where it never rains, none of the roofs are water proofed and so are only thin boards secured to the top of the cement walls. The pigeons make a horrible racket as though they were racing eachother around the roof, and I don´t reccommend them as an alarm clock for anyone. Sophie and I woke up slowly, Jordan was already gone somewhere, and soon we were greeted by him with gifts of fresh bread, fresh oranges and fresh grapes from a market he had discovered. We ate for a tenth of what we had all been paying.

A great beginning to a new day, we packed up our things and checked out of our hotel, our host then caught us a taxi, then asked if we wanted one, and arranged for us to be taken to the bus stop in Pisco that would take us to Ica, where we would catch the bus to Cuzco. We bid him a thankful farewell and set off. Upon arrival to Pisco we were informed by our driver that our pre-arranged fare would take us only to central Pisco, and the bus station would be available for a mere 2 soles more apeice. We grudgingly agreed(again), and were taken to a corner, where we were issued a 3 sole apeice ticket from Pisco to Ica which was about 35 kilometers. Upon arrival in Ica we inquired at the local bus companies about fare to Cuzco and finally found the cheapest at 80 soles for the 18 hour trip into the mountains and to Cuzco, to which we will arrive around 2pm tomorrow afternoon (our bus leaves at 8pm). After aquiring more funds from a bank we trekked back to the bus station and purchased fare, and were (very thankfully) able to store our packs there so we could tour the town without our houses on our backs.

We set out, found a restaurant serving delicious cheap cuisine and ate....oh it was good. The most common lunch/dinner here is fish or chicken cooked a couple different ways served with either white rice, homemade french fries, or beans and preceeded by either a fresh vegetable salad or a noodle soup. When we first began eating we thought we were just being served tourist food because it consisted of a lot of white rice, noodles and home cut french fries. As we have come to find out that is a pretty standard meal, although the fish and vegetables are much better than in the states because they are FRESHer than anything I have tasted in a long time. I am even eating the tomatoes, which is a miracle for anyone who knows me.

We then found two bread shops and indulged in amazing sweet breads, cupcakes and bought a loaf for the 18 hour trip so we have some snacks. Now we are just passing time, awaiting our departure this evening, and then....to Cuzco.