No Fixed Plans

We arrived fairly early at our hotel (where unfortunately couldn’t check in yet)

We headed off to breakfast, our ceo pointing out atm’s and some other shops along the way

We all were very happy when the food came out as we were all starving

Afterwards the ceo took us to a local market and showed us around it and informed us how it was good for tourists as they never tried to rip us off

Everyone headed to the shops selling Patagonias and gloves in preparation for rainbow mountain as well as Bolivia and the salt flats. One of the guys was happy that I wasn’t looking at anything as it meant I was staying near him, holding his things when he was trying on things and giving opinion. 

After he bought what was needed we got news from our ceo that our rooms were ready so we went to check in and relax a little before 3 of us went to find a bar to watch the World Cup at. It took two goes but we found an Irish pub that could accommodate what we thought would be 6 of our group, that turned into about 11 of us. 

After the game 3 of us went to help one look for a Patagonia and get some supplies from the supermarket before going our seperate ways.

We all separated for an early dinner as we had to wake up at 5am for rainbow mountain the next day. 

We all started bright and early for our 6am rainbow mountain tour. Our ceo didn’t come with us, however he did send us off with the tour leader. A few of us went back to sleep for a bit on the bus before arriving at the buffet place where they were giving us breakfast. We were all happy for an included breakfast but just about none of us were that hungry due to the time. 

We then had about another hour to the start of rainbow mountain

It took us about two hours to climb to the very top (I found it harder than the rest due to health issues) and then 14 of the 18 continued to the red valley while the other 4 of us went back to the bus to wait for them. 

We then went back to the breakfast spot and had lunch there (we were all a lot hungrier now) and then proceeded back to our hostel. 

We all seperated for a bit before those of us who started the tour in Quito met up with two of the people who left for dinner, however we were all exhausted and knew we had to get up at around 7am the next day so we didn’t hang around much talking after we finished eating (they were tired too and had to get up early as they were doing rainbow mountain the next day)

We started early for our trek to Ollantaytambo where 16 out of 18 of the group would be starting the Inca trail. 

Everyone doing the Inca trail was instructed to only bring their duffel bags while me and the other girl doing it were told to pack an overnight bag and we were all to leave our big luggage in luggage storage in the hostel. 

We made multiple stops along the way, the first being at the white Christ. We all took photos and listened as our ceo explained why Cusco was so separated from the rest of Peru and how the city was shaped like a puma. 

We then continued to sacred valley where we stopped at a G-Adventures supported women’s weaving co-op in the Ccaccaccollo community. We were able to feed sheep and llama and then got a demonstration on how they dyed the sheered wool. We were also able to feel the different wool and shown how they clean it. We were also shown all the different patterns and how they weave them. 

We were then given the opportunity to buy things from them (which majority of us did). 

We continued to be able to take photos of the sacred valley before making our way to a brewery for lunch. Majority chose to sample 4 beers from them whereas about 6 of us chose to have juice instead. After the beers and lunch, we hung around for about 15 minutes playing the games they had set up in the yard before heading to the hotel. 

We had about 5 hours before our group dinner that night. We had the option of going on a 45 minute hike with our ceo, however only 3 took him up on the offer. The rest of us went to the shops/ to walk around a little and then started playing cards. While we were playing we ended up befriending the 7 year old child of the owners of the hotel, who loved that we were doing “6 7” back at him. 

We then headed to our last group dinner for 3 days. As it was one of the girls birthdays, we had gotten her a card and a few presents and our ceo had organised a cake for her. And as per South American tradition, she had her face pushed into it. 

We then called it a night and headed off to bed.

We all awoke early, 16 for the Inca trail the other 2 of us to send them off. 

After the send off, me and the other girl had about 15 minutes to pack our room up and check out as we had a tour before heading back to Cusco. We visited the Ollantaytambo ruins with a tour leader and then hoped into a car to go to ancient Incan agricultural terraces of Moray and visit the Mara’s salt mines. We then headed to a fancy lunch with our CEO, tour leader and bus driver before getting back to Cusco.

When we got back, we made a quick stop at our first hostel to go to a different hotel for two nights. We were both exhausted when we got there so we hung in the hotel for a bit, before trying (for about 30 minutes) to get local delivery apps to work (without success). Neither of us wanted to have to sit at a restaurant for ages (nor leave the room for long) so we made a 5 minute walk to a takeaway crepe place and promptly taking them back to the room to watch a documentary in bed before falling asleep. 

The next day we met our ceo at 9am for a small walking tour of the city, where he showed us a small waterfall and the local school. We had a 3 course lunch together before he left us to our own devices at the supermarket closest to our hotel. We were in line to checkout when a 600g chocolate cake caught our eye at checkout and we decided we were tired and that was going to be our dinner for that night. 

We went back to the hotel, relaxed a little bit, and then halved our chocolate cake and turned on a movie. Afterwards, she was able to go to sleep while I then had to wait for my laundry to be done. 

The next day, we had to get up at about 7am to make our way up to aquas alienates for our Machu Picchu tour the next day. We ended up meeting our ceo’s dad as he drove the three of us back to the first hostel so we could drop our big luggage off again, after which we swapped cars to the person G actually hires for that stuff. 

We stopped in the Ollantaytambo town, right at the train to wait for it. We sat in an empanada place to eat and wait for it. While on the train we attempted to do a puzzle she had gotten for her birthday, gave up halfway through and then went back to doing it. Every time we made progress, we excitedly told our CEO (who was sitting across from us), much to the judgement of people sitting around us (everyone who was looking at us ended up being our tour guide + group members the following day). 

Upon getting there, our ceo took us on an orientation walk and gave us suggestions for things to do, however we made just made our way back to the hotel (stopping to take photos with Paddington who was sitting on a bench) and went back to the puzzle (we ended up giving up when we realised there was 2 missing pieces). 

The next morning we got up at 7am to have breakfast before the tour, where our ceo then walked us over to where the rest of the group were. The line was long and our group almost adopted a stranger who had asked them to pay online and she gave them the cash (she then tried staying with us on the bus to follow us around but the tour leader shut that down pretty quickly). 

We went up to Machu Picchu for about 3 hours, our guide giving us lots of information about the area and allowing us to take a lot of photos. The one thing we weren’t expecting to see up there was someone proposing to his partner (she said yes). 

After finishing, we took the train back down to the town where we reunited with G group over lunch. They all showed us photos and told us how exhausted they all were (one more than the rest as he ended up being dared to do 200 pushups and did it despite the altitude. Unsurprisingly, he ended up sick)

We all looked at souvenirs before heading to the train, where me and the other girl who didn’t do the Inca trail ended up in a different carriage to everyone else, much to our dismay. 

After the train, we were on a private bus back to the first hostel we stayed in in Cusco, a drive that felt like 8 hours but in reality was about 3. No one had the energy to do anything before bed but we all knew we had to eat something so most of the group walked across the street to the local chicken shop for dinner while 4 of us just stayed and ate at the hotel so we could go to bed straight after eating. 

The next morning we all woke up late. I waited for everyone else in my room to go before showering. By the time I was finished the one girl left who had been sleeping (I was in a room with 5 other girls) had woken up and invited me to join her and her partner for breakfast in the hotel (which was included). We were all doing our own thing for the day, and most of the group was pretty happy to relax and not do a whole lot. I walked around the town for about 2 or 3 hours looking at all of the chess sets and settled on buying one with local pieces, the white being the Spanish and the black being the Incas. 

After heading back to the hotel, I was reading for a bit before playing a few matches of chess with the guy who was sick. 

We all then started re packing our bags before heading to a briefing with our ceo for the next day.

9 of us went to dinner together and met with 3 of the people from our first tour before heading to the pub we watched the World Cup at a few days prior for drinks. While paying, I meant to tell the waiter I was going to tip 10% but he misheard me as 10 soles and I didn’t want to correct it (10 soles is only about 4AUD anyway). Because of this though, he offered to give me a ticket for a free drink at the same Irish pub in a different city. I, however, declined this as it was a city we had already been to and wasn’t going back to. 

We all then headed back to go to sleep as we had a transfer to Puno the next day