So how to follow a day at Machu Pichu? Firstly by sleeping very well indeed, although as far as I was concerned just not for long enough! We had a free day to explore Cusco and had a number of items we wanted to tick off. Firstly I wanted/needed a hair cut and popping into a local barber has always provided some amusement for me in the past. After locating a suitable establishment I was waved to a seat while a very serious guy donned his jacket. After a little communication break down he started but I was still unsure whether he had understood the request for the 'best Peruvian haircut'. The first stage was a lot of combing, to the extent that I was unsure if this was their way of just eroding the hair from your head, in which case no wonder he looked so somber. Eventually scissors appeared and were applied around the back. They stayed there for a long time until he wet my hair, cut some more, dried my hair and continued snipping away - I swear at one point only at the air around my head. Rarely has my style been given so much attention. Eventually satisfied with his creation, and I hope the thumbs  up I gave him, I was let on my way.

Next up was a brief visit to the Inca museum. This had many pieces we had seen elsewhere but also some black pots coloured by firing them in smoke and some almost comically glum green figures. If the Inca race was cavorting with aliens like some people claim then they are not that pleased with themselves. At this point it was time to head for our post walk massage parlour at Ying Yang's. Eleanor and I were in the same room and were a little surprised when she had the attentions of the male masseuse and I the female. Clearly she thought my pants were a little on the large side and had no compunction about pulling them up reminiscent of school ground pranks. Still the massage was relaxing and gentle, not at all like some of the painful assaults we have experienced in the past, although Carl assures up that a good massage should hurt I think we have some evidence that not all massages that hurt are good.

For lunch we met Ebony and Carlos and found a restaurant on the corner of the square to satisfy Colin's alpaca cravings. Ebony and Carlos ordered a huge platter of meat to make any vegetarian wince and made remarkable progress through it. After food we went to the cathedral and found inside it was dominated by lots of large wooden alters. These were made from cedar wood and then covered with silver and gold leaf, getting more impressive as we went into the main section of the cathedral. From here we walked to the other two squares and popped into a final musuem, the highlight of which was a huge picture of Tupac (someone the Spanish had brought charges against after working with the Inca's) being pulled apart by four horses.

On the way back to the hotel we passed a shop selling some wall hangings of a style that we had taken a fancy to elsewhere. The patterns we had seen already were reasonably generic but in this shop there was a picture of the monkey Nasca line in striking colours. I caught a glimpse out the corner of my eye and we back tracked a couple of  paces and headed in for a closer inspection. It passed muster magnificently but had the agonising price of $850, well out of the price range we had expected to spend on anything. We left for some internal chewing of fat before heading back in. With little time left, we were due back at the hotel and would be leaving the following day, our haggling efforts were limited but we eventually walked away with it wrapped up for $745 and were pleased that the person serving us at least pretended to phone to owner to authorize the discount! After a very quick drink to recover from our rashness we dashed back to the hotel in time for a group meal out in a vey nice restaurant as a few people would be leaving the tour in the morning.