Moray/ Salineras

This morning at 9:15am, I was picked up in a small car. I had expected a tour bus like one of the multitudes going by picking tourists up from their hotels, but no, I lucked out and ended up with one driver who spoke very good English and two young honeymooners from England. So we weren´t rushed about, which was nice. There was only one problem - the tour agency that had hired his services had not paid him my admision fee for Moray and not collected admission from the couple at all. So he paid out his pocket, which later I realized left him skint for lunch - we offered him our extra sandwiches when we saw he wasn´t eating but it wasn´t until later I clicked a rueful damm. Of course, Ellie and Thomas paid him but he was very hestitant in asking, like we would be angry with him instead of the travel agency. One amusing part was along the way he stopped the car by the side of the road and stuffed a friend into the back of the hatchback to give him a lift.

Both places are located about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours outside of Cusco and at a lower altitude. I didn´t really notice a difference except for my headache being gone. On the way back, Ellie offered me a cocoa candy - finally this afternoon I bought some of my own!

Of the two, I preferred Salineras, the salt pools. They were simply stunning with the contrast of the Andes and the valley below. Moray was also very beautiful and comes with a fascinating Inca history. I took a lot of photos but think the postcards make them both look better than I could ever get.

In driving out of the city, we saw a lot of farmers living in and around smaller communities. There were cows, sheep, chickens running all over the place. A few times we had to stop and honk to get them off the road. I haven´t seen a llama yet (or a guinea pig, you naughty people!) except for the woman who dresses up anmd comes into downtown Cusco with her llama to pose for photos (1 sole each).