Lima and Cusco

We only had one night in Lima and our one goal was to eat ceviche. Check! We spent our one day wondering around Miraflores and we went to possibly the fanciest supermarket I've ever been too. I can't wait until I can afford to buy nice cheese again!

Our hostel in Lima - a renovated mansion from the 1900s.

 After our quick stop in Lima it was off to Cusco - a 21 hour bus ride. We decided this was a good reason to splash out on pretty much the fanciest bus company in Peru - Cruz del Sur - to see what the fuss was about. The seats went back far, we had a pillow and a blanket, got served meals and drinks and to top it all off there was an entertainment system and some of the movies were in English!

Cusco was a nice city but man it got cold sometimes and quite touristy. We spent our time wandering around the cobbled streets, soaking in the sun on a cold morning and taking a free walking tour around the city.

Inca Fountain in the middle of Plaza de Armas (the main square)

Traditional Dance in the Streets

View of Cusco - it's amazing the way these cities spread up the mountains when they expand

Jesus watches over Cusco. Spoiler Alert! - This was a little taster of who we're gonna get to see in Rio!

On our walking tour we visited a company who makes turns baby alpaca wool into expensive ponchos. These are a few of the ingredients they use to naturally dye the wool. 

These different colours are made from mixing a squashed bug from a moldy cactus with different minerals. Seriously. 

You pretty much finish every tour in Peru with a Pisco Sour. We were shown how to make our own Pisco Sours, and although we only got a shot of one each, it was probably the tastiest one I've had. Lots of sugar syrup. 

Cuy (guinea pig) is a Peruvian Specialty. I'm still not really sure why. I'd been wanting to try one but a whole one can cost about 60 soles. Luckily our hostel was going to prepare one for lunch and you could eat a quarter of it for 15 soles. This is what he looked like fresh out of the oven. There's not much meat on a cuy and the skin was pretty similar to that of a pigs. With all those little bones it gets a bit fidely and I'm not sure I'd like to eat a whole one but the bit I did try was quite tasty. Except the head. I couldn't eat the head.