Cusco

When we landed in Cusco I was initially unimpressed. The buildings looked ram shackled and the paintwork was not just peeling off, it had fallen off altogether. My opinion changed once we got to the old city. The streets were old Inca streets, the one we were on had a river running through it but now it was underground and some of the walls and buildings were original Inca built. Their stone work was amazing and were built to withstand earthquakes which they have done for centuries. Our hotel was a converted old building with a wooden Juliet type balcony outside our room overlooking the old street. It was amazing what passed by our balcony. I could have sat there all day and be entertained by what went on below. There were a lot of llama and alpacas being towed along by very colourful women all decked out in their traditional costumes, sometimes with a baby strapped in a blanket tied to their backs. Most made money by charging tourists to take a photo of them. They are a strange breed, very short and stocky with, I guess, layers of underskirts to make the outer skirt stick out making them look fatter still, woollen tights and a funny bowler hat perched on top of their head with twin long plaits trailing down their back.

Donkey noses in the local market

We had a walking tour of the city the next morning then were driven high above the city to three different Inca sites of historical significance . I had never heard of these places, maybe because I didn't do enough research but we were pleased to have seen them. Well, maybe not Jon as he was forced to walk some way and uphill to a couple of sites which he considered was just more bloody rock walls. The stonework tho, as mentioned, was just amazing. Some of these rocks were enormous and each was cut out and all fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle. The historians say the Incas were around for a mere 100 years before the Spanish invaded but the infrastructure they had built seems unlikely it could have been completed within this time. One site we went to was Saqsayhuaman which when pronounced sounded like sexy woman. I wondered why he kept talking about a sexy woman until I studied the name. This was a huge place that looked a bit like a fortress but apparently was something like a sun worshipping temple.

That night we decided to try the special highland dish of guinea pig, just to say we had eaten one. They also have a traditional drink called a Pisco sour which is now my favourite cocktail. Pisco is made from fermented grapes and is like a brandy type alcohol. They mix this with lime and egg white to make a very delicious drink. The guinea pig was nice as well but as we had never had one before I suspect you need to acquire the taste. I can't describe what it was like except it was like nothing we have ever eaten before. Sure didn't taste like chicken! I don't think we will have it again but it certainly wasn't unpleasant.

In the morning we were transferred to the bus that would take us on a tour of the scared valley and drop us off at the train station in Ollantaytambo.  There were about 20 people on this tour of various nationalities and the guide swung from English to Spanish with great ease. We drove back the way we had been the day before then carried on through the mountains until we stopped at a lookout that laid the Scared Valley below at our feet. The river that runs through this valley is to the Quechua, like the Ganges is to the Indians. The Quechua (pronounced cach wa) are the native people and speak either Quechua or Spanish. Inca or Inka means king so the Inka was the king and the Quechua are the people.

Our next stop was to another ancient site of the Pisac ruins, a hilltop Inca citadel and fortress.  It was completely terraced, with these very steep terraces at least 2-3 metres deep marching up the hills, shored up by rock walls. At the top was remanents of stone store houses they use to keep their crops in and on the back cliff were lots of holes, looking very much like a beehive. Turns out these holes were tombs. They would tie the body up in a fetal position and put them in a basket before burying them with their wealth of gold and silver. All the tombs had since been raided by the Spanish who looted the tombs as well as all the cities of all their gold and silver until there was nothing left.

We went down into the small town of Pisac, at the base of this hilltop fortress, for a look around their very colourful market before heading off for our lunch stop. On the way we passed through several small towns and as it was Sunday, people were out on the streets, the bbqs glowing and guinea pigs skewered on sticks being roasted  and then waved around like a flag trying to tempt someone to buy it. 

The Peruvian food, despite the tummy churning thought of eating ones pet, is considered the best cuisine in the world and with what we have eaten so far I would have to agree. It is quite delicious, everything we have tried from market food to cafes to restaurants have been of the highest quality and exceptional taste, our lunch on this day in an out of the way, remote location, was no exception. In fact it was the best food we had tried to date.

Our final stop was Ollantaytambo where the train leaves from to take us to Aguas Calientes. Here there was also one more Inca site to climb. By this time Jon had had enough and refused to go up so I had to climb up more rock stairs and a very steep climb I might also add, by myself. Well, the rest of the group also did it but I can't say I blame Jon for not doing it. We did get a good view from the top but not sure the effort of climbing the stone walls with hundreds of others was really worth the effort.

As we got down it began to rain and by the time we were dropped off at the station it was hosing down. We were the only ones going on, the rest of the group were going back to Cusco so we had to make a run for the station which was a fair way from where we were dropped, not sure why that was.

The train was very comfy tho with windows on the roof so you could see out and look at the mountains if it wasn't raining and the windows weren't all steamed up. Unfortunately it was and they were so we nodded off for most of the 2+ Hour journey and it was dark by the time we reached Aquas Calientes.

The next day was the biggy. The day I have waited for many a year, to see the iconic Machu Picchu. We were up early, collected by our guide and caught the 6am bus. There are buses leaving constantly so as soon as one bus is full it leaves and the next bus pulls up. The wait is not long at all. As we slowly made our way up the hairpin bends and steep sided road the dawning sun was touching the tops of the mountain peaks, bathing them in an orangey glow. I tried not to look down when our side of the bus was on the drop side and hoped like hell the driver knew what he was doing. The drive was around 25 mins and we got through the gates before the hordes started arriving. It was another 15-20 minute hike up the hill, could have been quicker if we didn't have to stop so often to breath, before we finally reached the postcard sight. I must admit that it was a very emotional moment for me and I almost broke down and cried. I didn't quite but I did have tears in my eyes, such was the impact of seeing this iconic, historical site of Machu Picchu for the first time. It was just incredible, words cannot describe the wonder you feel as you gaze down on the terraced, stone scattered site with the backdrop of Huayna Picchu and the majestic mountains framing it just like the pictures in the glossy magazines. All I can say is wow.

Our guide then took us down through the city, explaining all the significant sites along the way, I had no idea how clever they must have been and how fit they were! To live here you would have to have strong legs and good lungs. The historians believe that the Spanish did know of the existence of this place but because the Incas had abandoned it and took all the gold with them, the Spanish didn't bother to go looking for it. The guy who eventually discovered it in the 20s thought he had discovered the lost city of Vilcabamba which he had been looking for, where the Inca had retreated to after abandoning Machu Picchu. It wasn't until 4 years after his death did they realise the mistake.

Our guide stayed with us for 21/2 hours then we were on our own for as long as we liked before catching the bus back to town then the train back to Cusco. We decided not to do the 3 hr hike up to the sun gate, instead we opted for the easier 1 hr hike to the inca bridge. It is believed they approached the city through this route when they bought all the supplies then destroyed the bridge so they couldn't be followed. The path lead along the side of a cliff that dropped straight down at times but was a very picturesque walk although not always easy. Jon was just about exhausted when he looked ahead and declared he was not walking up those stairs. What he was looking at was the original inca stairs which clung on the side of the cliff and was after the bridge. Lucky for him it is strictly out of bounds!

We left a little early so we could have a walk around the mostly tourist town of Aguas Calientes with its brightly coloured markets and interesting Main Street, the train lines dissecting right down the middle, before catching the train for the 3 hr 40 min journey back to Poroy, which is the station situated just out of Cusco.

We had a very rare free day on our last day of Cusco which was very welcome. No getting up early or having to go anywhere. It dawned a lovely day so we took a long walk around the streets and visited a couple of museums before the weather turned and there was a big thunderstorm and temperature suddenly dropped. We were caught in the rain so made a dash back to the hotel and waited until later to venture out again. 

That night we had booked into a special restaurant call MAP which was located inside a museum and was part of the museum. We did it to surprise the two girls from Sydney that we had met in the Amazon as we knew they were going that night. The surprise was we actually meet them that morning, coincidentally on the corner near our hotel. So they got to the restaurant before us and had arranged for us to sit at the same table. It was a great night, food was excellent and unusual and they were great company. It was a nice note to end our Cusco tour on.