We were planning to leave Puno on at 3:00 bus which was supposed to get us to Cusco by 9. We got bumped to a 4 p.m. bus, which then ended up taking 9 hours instead of 6: the driver stopped at absolutely every opportunity, either for a snack or for a smoke, despite the fact that the whole bus would stamp their feet and curse him out loud. We showed up in Cusco at 1 a.m. We did not want to spend much time wondering in Cusco at night, so we picked a hotel from a guide book, and decided that we'll just stay there. (This didn’t stop us from negotiating the price down from US$20 to US$16.) Hotel Incawasi where we stayed turned out to be reasonably nice and was in a great location right on Plaza del Armas (every Peruvian city has a Plaza del Armas). As it turned out, we were the only people staying there the whole time we were there.

We spent the next day walking around Cusco, admiring Inca stonework and amusing “mestizo” artwork showing a mix of Spanish and Andean traditions – e.g. a painting of the Last Supper with a guinea pig as the main course (speaking of which, I got to try roasted guinea pig in Puno).

In the afternoon, we went to a traditional restaurant (found in the book) and the continued up to San Bla neighborhood to the church of San Bla, which had a very impressive pulpit carved out of wood.