Diana and I took a local bus (60 cents USD) to Pisac today. The local market was great - I love seeing the displays of spices, fruits, veggies, anything a local could want. my favorite was the woman selling pigments for dying alpaca wool. her colors were brilliant!

and of course the tourist market was huge. had to look carefully to see new things but my favorites were the (probably fake but still beautiful) antiques, polished rocks from the area, intricately carved gourds, religious paintings. I got to live vicariously through Dianas shopping since Im not buying anything yet. had a wonderful 2 hour lunch and ate the best brownie ever!! I didnt think I was craving chocolate, but didnt need more proof than that.

in general, food here is similar enough that I dont have major cravings (not like in asia - there its "give me eggs and cheese, NOW!"). breakfast is typically small (tea, bread, jam) but our host family adds a little extra for the gringos. Ive started slowing adding street food to my diet (30 cent emapanadas de carne for now) - getting my system ready. its SO much cheaper than restaurants.

after lunch we hiked into the hills towards the local incan ruins. we didn{t make it to the top, but found minor ruins half way up to watch the sunset over the sacred valley. I cried. THIS is why Im traveling. sunsets are always free (re-learned this from a friend a while ago). sunsets touch your soul. Im sitting on incan ruins.

and to share it with someone as wonderful as diana made it that much better - shes one of those amazing people you cross paths with that also make you think "this is why Im traveling". I will miss her when she leaves.

it got dark quick so we headed down to catch our bus. after loading about 50 peeps on a bus for 30 (we were squished into the aisle standing between a large quechua woman and 2 little boys - who eventually fell asleep on their feet), they discovered a theif. the driver turned off the bus, there was rumbling to try to get the theif off the bus but I never saw anyone leave. the bus finally started again and I just know I made it home with everything I started with so it really wasnt a big deal.

I feel a tiny cold coming on though - likely got it from one of the other 49 passengers... ;)