Our bus met us, and by now we were used to the formalities: get other tourists, meet at a central location with other buses, and finally divide up by languages. Today, we would be with Amadeo. He was quite dynamic with a good sense of humor. At one point, to spur on timeliness in returning to the bus, he threatened to make the last returnee sing karaoke to the whole group…in Quechua.
Upon boarding, we found familiar faces from the day before: a family of four from the States, but living in Buenos Aires, as well as two Brazilian women (who spoke perfect English). Then we were off for our first stop: a souvenir plaza. We both got new hats (which came on handy when it got colder again at night)
We boarded the bus again and headed to Pisac. It was an agricultural place where we learned modern society has flipped. The Incas used flat areas for agriculture and rocky areas for housing. Today, we use the flat lands for all our societal existence. Mer used a squatty potty there and we hiked to the top of the residences to get great photo ops of the valley below. Eventually, we had to hustle back to avoid our turn at karaoke. 
Back on the bus we headed down to Pisac city. There was another souvenir opportunity masked as a visit to learning about silver jewelry making. Mer and I skipped out and checked out some artwork instead. We met Juan Victor who claimed to be the artist to all types of medium. We found a nice, colorful oil painting of Peruvian women. We liked it, but walked away. I heard one price and Mer heard one much higher. We decided to go back and start negotiations at the lower price (because clearly, my Spanish is better!) when we named our lower offer, Juan countered with the original higher price that Mer correctly heard. We apologized for the confusion of language not meaning to disrespect his work. As we started to walk away, he countered with a few soles above our low offer. We bought it having negotiated 130 soles off the price (about $45). We like the painting, but love the deal we got. 
Back on the bus, we headed to lunch. Somehow, we got left off the lunch list, but ate with everyone else, albeit at a higher price. We mostly talked with the family from BA about their American lives in South America and highlights of their travels (we're going to Valparaíso in Chile at their suggestion).
Next we went to Ollantaytambo to climb the fortress of the rebel Inca. Here a general founded his base after leaving Qosqo. However he never got to finish his Sun Temple as the Spanish invaded. We got to see how the Inca collected the rocks from a quarry from afar (by burning the rocks with fire then breaking off chunks by pouring ice water on it). Then with ropes and tree trunks, the Inca worked together to haul the stones where they needed to go. We climbed around and back down the temple area and met our group back at a coffee shop where my Americano coffee was a tiny 12 oz for a very tourist price of $3. 
Next was our very long drive to our last stop, Chinchero. The sun was beginning to set on this small town populated by mostly Incan descendants. This was the home of an Incan traitor who helped the Spanish. The city recently had land purchased on the flat plain just outside the small town to build a new INTERNATIONAL airport that will divert traffic from Lima (not even the Cusco airport is international). As our guide, Amadeo, predicted, that little town is about to undergo dramatic change. 
By this time it was nearly 6 pm and it had been a long day of touring. We boarded our bus for the last time and headed back for Cusco. Under cover of night, and the light a gorgeous full moon, we snaked our way back to the city. Traffic prevented our disembarkment at the central square (Plaza de las Armas) so we got out earlier, swapped emails with a Canadian couple teaching in Columbia, and then headed in a group to the main square. Mer and I then found a restaurant, El Meson de Espaderos, where we ate lomo saltado and Mer had her first Pisco Sour (of many to come)
Back to our hostel (first time not getting lost!) for a warm shower and then to bed. Day 2 ended with lots of exercise, new souvenirs, no altitude sickness, and the talent of falling asleep 2.3 seconds after head making contact with the pillow.
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