Puno to Cusco

Leaving Puno I decided splurge on the bus to Cusco and take the Inka Express tour (www.inkaexpress.com) which includes a buffet lunch, English speaking tour guide and stops at 4 different sites along the way. I bought direct from the company at the bus station for s70, if
you buy through your hotel or an agent you'll pay more as usual. My hotel charged s84. The bus leaves at 7:30am and arrives at 5:30pm. There was also another company called tourPeru (www.tourperu.com.pe) that had a bus doing the same exact trip and their bus was nicer. A
regular tourist direct bus to Cusco costs about s30 and you can get a local bus for s15. The Inka Express was worth it I think. The bus has a toilet but the seats aren't that great with limited leg room but It was very nice to stop at sights along the way and the lunch was very
good. The scenery along the drive is absolutely incredible. Some of the best in the world I think. The price doesn't include entrance to the sights so I skipped the first museum (s6) and I'm glad I did. The town it's in is pretty cool and it was nice to walk around away from the tourists. The second stop is the top of a pass at about 4200meters above sea level with great views. Then lunch, then an Incan archeological site that was cool, entrance was s10. The last stop was a quaint little village that had a chapel. The chapel was s6 to get in and didn't look too special so I skipped it and played frisbee with a 5 yr old Peruvian child and a piece of cardboard. When the bus arrives in Cusco it stops at the company office which is a couple kilometers from the center. Official taxis are waiting but charge s8 when it should be s5 so I took a "pirate" taxi for s5 out of principle. Might not have been the smartest thing since robberies aren't uncommon but it worked out