Good evening everyone,
Cusco sits 3400m above sea level so we were advised to take it easy for the first couple of days to let our bodies adjust to the altitude. Luckily neither of us suffered any major ill effects, but we made sure to load ourselves up with coca leaves and sweets just incase altitude sickness struck!
Cusco is steeped in history and walking around it's cobbled streets reminded us of our time in Flores, Guatemala although a little chillier! After 2 months in Central America with unrelenting heat and humidity, it was nice to reach much cooler climes, although our time in the heat seems to have softened our British skin as we are finding it a little difficult to adjust to the freezing nights! Probably because they don't have heating, just sheets and thick woolly blankets... In fact it very much reminds me (Rachel) of sleeping up in my grandparents farm, except Nanna was there warming the bed up first with an electric blanket... Funny how you're reminded of such experiences!
On our third day in Cusco we went on a short walk uphill to the ancient ruins Saqsaywaman, a sprawling site with amazing views over the city....
View of Cusco
Cross at the viewpoint
Saqsaywaman ruins
We broke up our time in Cusco with an over night trip to the South American travellers Mecca that is, Machu Picchu!
This was without a doubt the highlight of our trip. We always knew that it would be an unforgettable experience, but actually being there to see the sunrise was indescribable.....
After sunrise we had a guided tour around the site, which really helped us to understand the history of Machu Picchu and the reason for its existence.
We had pre bought tickets to enable us to climb Machu Picchu mountain, a climb of 2000 winding steep steps which, in the growing heat of the day (even though Peru at this time of year is cold at night, the sun can still be scorching during the day) was a tough challenge! Don't get me wrong I'm sure it's not a patch on the arduous 4 day Inca Trail, but climbing that mountain at high altitude made us both feel incredibly unfit and more than a little worse for wear! But as we climbed and stopped for water and carried on climbing and chatted to other climbers about how hard we were all finding it, we all pushed eachother to carry on, and boy was it worth it! At the top we were greeted with this phenomenal view....
Panoramic shot from the top
Proof that we actually made it!
After a very long day at Machu Picchu and a late train and bus back to Cusco, we collapsed in a heap and had the biggest lie in of our trip so far!
When we finally arose we spent a final day in Cusco wandering around, eating lots of good food and buying 100% Alpaca woollen garments...
On Monday we took a 7 hour bus to Puno, a town sitting on the edge of Lake Titicaca, the worlds largest high-altitude lake.
The weeks highlights:
Best View: Nothing will beat the amazing views we witnessed overMachu Picchu...
Food: Inland Peruvian food has been a little hit and miss to be honest. The highs: Peruvian potato croquettes (simple but so tasty!), crispy wontons, alpaca skewers and lamb with gnocchi, all in Cusco.
The lows: Cold alpaca pieces served with pasta spaghetti and about 6 chips, tossed in soya sauce and a couple of tomatoes for good measure... Random and definitely not tasty!
Lesson learnt: Always check the dates on the ticket you have just negotiated and purchased, it isn't always as you (or they!) intended!
Love Monday Funday: To be honest we were never going to top Machu Picchu this week - it was worth 10 love Mondays! Here's Colin also having an awesome time with us...
Number of hours on a bus: 10
Number of hours on the best (& most expensive probably!) train we've ever been on: 3
Much love,
Lisa and Rachel x
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