Today was an early start again, well not too early, we had an 8.50am flight Arequipa to Cusco. It’s only a short flight, just over 30 min, was our first ‘business class’ flight. Well, we were row 3, in front of the curtain with extra leg room, but on such a short flight no services.
On landing we collected our bags, the sharp eyed porters kept trying to help, saying Peregrine, the name of our travel company and pointing to their trolleys. Raul smiled as we waved them away, it wasn’t part of the tour, they could just read our baggage tags and were hoping we’d fall for it. Bags collected we headed out to find our transport, yet again we get a mini bus just for us. Traffic in Lima had been busy, Arequipa slightly crazier but Cusco is another step up. Rules don’t seem to matter, it’s just every driver for themselves, our driver just takes it in his stride.
After a short drive we arrive at our hotel the Hotel San Augustin, very nice it is too. Our room is huge and looks out onto the Santa Domingo Church, built on the site of the Incan Qoricancha. The religious complex of Qoricancha (Qorikancha) in the Inca capital at Cuzco contained the Temple of the Sun which was not only the most sacred site or huaca in the Inca religion but was considered the very centre of the Inca world. It’s an amazing site to have outside your room.
After a brief rest we meet Raul in the lobby for a walk around town. The plaza in Cusco is magnificent, the church towers over the square with it’s gardens and statues. 
You do feel the altitude at times, especially going up some of the hills out of the square, after all we are at around 3400m here. We finish the walk at the Coca Museum, a fascinating place where we hear about coca and it’s place in Inca culture. Long before it became a no no due to the drug connotations it was a source of energy for the Inca people. To get ‘high’ on the leaves you would need to consume some crazy amount, it takes 300kg of leaves to produce 1kg of cocaine.
After the tour we find a local restaurant for a lazy lunch, you can’tcan’t be in a hurry here, Peru moves at it’s own pace. Lunch over we stroll back through the streets to our hotel for a rest before whatever the evening brings.