Pisac - I heard about Pisac Market searching for places to see while in Cusco. So there we were riding to through the mountains overlooking the Andes. We stopped to take plenty of pictures of the mountainside, peruvian people who were so incredibly interesting to study (their beautiful bright colored clothes alone made my eyes feast on their beauty), and the town/villages from above.

Soon, we were descending into the Pisac Market to stop at an ATM. After shopping around in Cusco, we were eager to the see the archaeological sites as opposed to walking around the market. Although, I would of loved to have just an afternoon there. After getting some cash, Jaiyme took us away up into the beautiful mountainsides overlooking Pisac again, only now from the other side of the mountain range. We were headed to the amazing Pisac ruins, and oh, how truly amazing it was. It began to drizzle a bit, but that certainly did not stop us from taking pictures of this place. An old man tried to sell us a poncho for 40 Soles (around USD $15) - after buying ours in the US for $2. He began to bargain his price down as we refused to take his ridiculous offers. We sneered at his selfish efforts in trying to take advantage of us "the Tourists." Here's our poncho we brought!

Jimmy and I enjoyed looking at the ruins, the Incan steps,

and the small holes in the mountains that were Incan tombs. It was pretty amazing. The place was huge. It took us a whole hour and a half to somewhat "look around." We did find a nice house for us to live in on the top:

We finally made our way out. We walked through the walkway above the vendors selling us all kinds of trinkets, snacks, and drinks. We stopped about Peruvian corn with cheese and water. Peruvian corn were MASSIVE kernels of corn with some kind of crumbled cheese (sort of like FETA). It was delightful! Afterwards, we descended back into the valley to Pisac Market again. Only this time, we did take 45 minutes to bargain and shop for souvenirs. We bought 2 incan rattles, alpaca scarves, an awesome knife, and a pipe for a friend. We also met this mom and daughter - both dressed in the colorful traditional peruvian clothing. They were so gorgeous and I had such a nice exchange with them.

Then we met Jaiyme again (searching for the main square was fun- the market is quite a maze). Then we went on our journey to our next destination --- FOOD!!!! Jaiyme suggested this awesome buffet off the side of the road we were traveling. It was awesome!!! AND SOOO GOOD! It was a great buffet with views all around the valley. We were surrounded by majestic mountains. There were houses high up on the mountains and they looked so beautiful from below. Jaiyme told us that the people on the mountains have no water or power. They are very poor. He told us that 1/3 of Peruvians live like that. Reminded me of home, the Philippines.

The food was great as usual. But our favorite was the flan. We had 3 pieces. It was soo good!!! Afterwards, we went to the bathroom. We couldn't figure out the male/female bathrooms because we didn't understand the signs. Soon we both emerged feeling silly and went to the correct bathrooms. Amusing for the locals, I'm sure. After we paid, we went to the car and we were full and rested. Next stop was Ollantaytambo. (hard to say! But still an awesome place).

These ruins were pretty cool! Jimmy's favorite outside of Machu Picchu. We parked near a neat village next to this man made stream. Jaiyme took us to the entrance. The only problem with this place was the crowd. It was pretty busy so timing was key to not get swallowed by bus tours. Jimmy yawned and I caught it in a picture. He was very excited despite his yawning, I assure you. This was probably the best training right before our big Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. As we went up, we saw the whole little village. We saw the car with Jaiyme cleaning it with the water from the stream. We kept going up and the view was amazing.

We had a "holy sh*t" moment at the top among the ruins looking out at the Peruvian mountains. It was like "where the heck are we!!!?!" It was an incredible moment indeed. This is Jimmy yawing at the majestic site. But seriously.. we both loved it, but getting up earlier in the AM at the crack of dawn to go on this trip really beat it out of us. GORGEOUS!

Till next time, folks!! :)