Our final days in Peru centered on the town of Cusco and us just wandering around. We started the day with the self guided tour of the museum across the street from our hotel. This Spanish church & convent was built on top of and with materials from the sacred Inca temple Qorikancha. After seeing Machu Picchu we were all suffering a bit from “stone fatigue” so we cruised through the attractions at a steady clip. Steve did provide some comedic relief by making up stories to go with the gallery paintings depicting various saints and such!

Following the museum we wandered around Cusco visiting various shops for souvenirs. Alpaca clothing is everywhere and the price varies wildly! Josh did some research and learned that true baby alpaca fibers initially feel cool to the touch and that this can be used to determine if the article is really baby alpaca vs a blend. We tried it out at the fancy shops and the discount shops and I could tell a difference! As much as I coveted an alpaca sweater or cloak, I know living in Indiana would offer few chances to wear it so I just petted all the items. Cusco is a very walkable city and we ambled around most of the afternoon.

Avi had the first flight out so we went back to the hotel to see him off. Ashish was next but still had a few hours so he and Josh did round two of shopping while Steve and I spent a couple hours reading and journaling. Ashish had opted for the return flight that basically had him sleeping in the Lima airport. Steve, Josh, and I considered it but decided to stay an extra night in Cusco and fly out the following afternoon. In the end, I think Ashish might have had the best idea since we were all a bit tired of city life and the Lima 24 hour lounge had sleeping recliners!

Our final day in Cusco became a four part mission. The night before I had discovered that a start up clothing company I’ve followed on Instagram for a few years had opened it’s first physical store recently and it was in Cusco! I wanted to visit and touch the items since buying online had been the only option before. The company is Paka and they pride themselves on sustainability. I enjoyed a great latte and while watching their promo video playing, the guys noticed that the man at the end of the bench was also in the video. I think it was the founder of the company which was pretty cool! I ended up not buying the flagship hoodie since I can order it online and my backpack was already full!

The next stop was to acquire some art that Steve had seen our first night here. The shop was closed the previous night but was open when we arrived. In a quest to make our house feel more like us, we’ve started buying art (not like super pricey art, just what makes us smile) and hanging it up!

Mission accomplished, the next stop was to enlist the llarmy (llama army)! Steve and I buy some trinket from our travels to use as a Christmas tree ornament and this time it was llama’s! Josh then had the brilliant idea to buy one for each of the kiddos in Sara’s class (his fiancee’ is a elementary school teacher)! While I did not get a picture of all 27 llamas from Josh, here is the small squad that came home with us (and the alpaca yarn that I just could NOT leave behind)!

The final task for the day was to find a way to get my ultrafab watercolor guinea pig in a poncho painting home safe! While this seems like it should be the easiest of things, it in fact was a challenge! We started by checking a DHL shipping store, showing a picture of a cardboard tube. This was met with no luck. Outside the store though, a nice man asked what we needed and directed us across the street to a bookstore. Another no, but more directions from the lady to check out a store called Plastico2000! This turned out to be a mecca of all things home related, from plastic in all forms, school supplies, kitchenware, toys, gardening, etc! Basically think of the most disorganized Dollar General you’ve ever seen and then make it 3-4 stories tall! Much roaming around produced zero ideas except for the remnants of a cardboard tube that some plastic material had once been rolled around. We took our prize to the check out and using google translate asked if we could purchase the tube. The young lady looked at us like we were a bit nuts. She said yes and I offered 5 soles. She said no, 3 soles! I’m not sure that is how bargaining works but we took it! After this adventure we had one last meal in Cusco of chicken chaufa (basically chicken fried rice) before we headed back to the hotel for our ride to the airport.

Please enjoy these picture of Steve trying out Instagram poses! This was inspired by watching various tourists do the same!