The first part of the of the weekend was devoted to moving my stuff from my family's house to the hostal. Thankfully Cesar helped with this. Before we left I went out to the local market to buy Elizabeth a plant. After finding a great palm that I liked and agreeing a price, I then went to a plant pot stall and bought a large earthenware pot. On presenting this to the lady at the plant stall she asked for 2 soles to buy some dirt and returned with enough to pot the plant. It turned out to be a great looking house plant for only 36 soles or £6. I felt a bit cheap but it would easily have cost £40 in the UK and I had taken some trouble to select something nice.
After this my family took me to a typical restaurant out of town where I had trout. All of the cooking was on a wood fire outside and it was fantastic meal and a nice way to say goodbye.
I settled into my hostal and then hired a bike for a ride the next day. I headed off for Pisac on Sunday stopping at the Llama/Alpaca/weaving centre where I saw some very high quality but expensive weaving. It was a tough climb out of Cuzco. I also stopped at some Inca ruins at Huacacancha. Eventually I was rewarded with a fantastic descent into the Sacred valley – it seemed to go on for ever with the most magnificent views.
After Pisac I spent the rest of the day riding fast and flat along the valley following the river through Calca to Urabamba, probably around 50 miles in all. Then I found a bus and stowed the bike on top and returned to Cuzco where I spent my first night in the Hostal and prepared myself mentally for the first day of school on Monday.
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