A noisy night in Cusco

Saturday night was quite possibly the noisiest and worst night's sleep we've had on this trip so far!

Our new hotel was only half a block from Cusco's main square and Cusco is a party town. Bands were playing until 2am and added to that, our room was literally opposite the reception desk, just 2 metres away so we heard every phone call, every conversation and every person coming and going! Then at 5am locals thought it was a great idea to let off more fireworks, but HUGE ones that set off dozens of car alarms! You couldn't write it!

One we'd decided that sleep was not going to happen, we got up and went next door to Ciciolina restaurant for a delicious breakfast.

The day was then spent mooching around Cusco, buying the last few bits and pieces for our 4 day Amazon Jungle trek starting Monday morning!

As I was walking around town I felt incredibly breathless and in the end realised that it was due to us still being at altitude (3400 metres 11,200 ft). 

I had struggled getting to sleep the night before, not only because of the noise but because of a common type of altitude induced sleep apnea. As soon as I dozed off, I would awake in a panic that I couldn't breathe. This happened once in La Paz but I had it for a couple of hours the night before and it was horrible.

So, I went into a shop and bought a canister of oxygen, readily available here, which sorted me out.

In the evening we met up with Shane and Corinne for drinks and a meal at Cicilina's sister restaurant, Baco.

Lots of laughs and chats all evening until we had to cut off the evening as we were being picked up early Monday morning for our 4 day trek into the Amazon Jungle!!

See you on the other side!