Cusco and el camino inca

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It seems that most of the buses here run overnight - I had wanted to do the trip to Cusco in the daytime so I could see the mountains, but was told it was overnight or chickens.. That left me with a spare day in Arequipa, so I asked the hostel what to do; they suggested white water rafting, but I spotted cookery lessons so tried that instead. We walked back down to the market, and this time I spotted the frog juice (does exactly what it says on the tin) but didn't try it. We bought all the ingredients and wandered back to the hostel. The hygiene was a little questionable, but I didn't get ill - we made a cold shepherds pie thingy with chicken, and a sort of chicken curry, but sadly I didn't pick up the recipes. The rest of the day I spent trying to change my travellers cheques for the next tour, only to be told that my signatures don't match. Drat. This wouldn't be a problem if the atms let you withdraw decent amounts of money! I'd ordered a taxi to the bus station half an hour before the bus was due to leave, but the traffic to get there was something else.. We arrived 5 minutes after the bus was due to leave - I ran into the first building, only to be told that I needed the next one. I ran over to that one, then found out there was a departure tax... Paid that, ran along the length of the building, found the company and was told the bus went from the other terminal! I was led across there, ran the length of that building, and made it just in time. Thank goodness Peruvian buses don't leave on time! The drive itself was pretty uneventful, if winding, but we pulled into Cusco at 6am and I was pretty wiped! At this point I realised I couldn´t find a memory card... the only one I hadn´t backed up as it wasn´t full.... oh fudge it!!! At 11 I met the rest of the group; 3 americans, 1 brit, a couple of kiwis and the rest to take us to 16 were Aussies. Our first activity was a wander through the streets of Cusco, to the market, the coca cafe and a couple of other sights... but the cows noses in the market were probably enough! A briefing on the Inca trail and it was time for bed.
Next day dawned and we set off for Cochubamba (I think) for a rustic pottery lesson - much like pottery anywhere else except they mix the clay themselves, then on to a guinea pig farm. I was slightly underwhelmed by this too as it was just 10 pens with Guinea pigs, inside a hut. Turns out that guinea pig is more expensive pound for pound than beef, but that was about the most expensive thing we found.
Next we crammed into a minibus for the 10 minute ride to Urubamba, and then into an even smaller minibus to Ollantaytambo, and corn beer... not something I{m in a rush to repeat. After checking in to the hotel we set off for the Inca ruins. Our guide had assured us that it was 40 Soles to enter, but the guy at the desk had other ideas and wanted to charge us each 70... but this included other sites. Not a lot of use when we would be on the trail the next day... I point blank refused and suggested that those of us who didn´t want to pay should go to the ruins on the other side of the valley and take piccies from there... seemed to be agreed on. Vege lasagna for tea, and into the firmest bed I´ve slept in for years.
Next morning we hopped into a slightly bigger minibus and were driven to the start of the trail... blocking the dirt road on half a dozen times, and arriving to find hordes of others doing the same thing, although curiously we didn´t seem to converse with the other groups. A slow and steady pace led us to lunch... not exactly out in the wilds as there were locals selling drinks and snacks, then out through and up an imposing looking canyon... was easier than it looked, and up to the first campsite, seemingly just below Dead Woman´s Pass - there´s a face in the rocks... It had been strange seeing cacti and normal trees together, but as we climbed the cacti stopped. This should have been my first hint.... The dinner was reasonably simple but tasty, and I thought our guide was being silly when he suggested champagne for Christmas Eve... but no, two bottles of Peruvian Champagne were shared out amongst the 16 of us; it´s not quite Cava but anyway!..
Woke up the next morning to a drizzle, breakfast included a slice of Panettone, and then we set off up to the pass. After about an hour we stopped at a clearing, and by now the rain was coming down hard... a swap to full waterproofs, and we carried on up. Near the top I was starting to feel a bit dizzy, but Derek passed some coca leaves around and that seemed to do the trick... even without the catalyst.... perhaps it was just wishful thinking. The top arrived an hour and a half earlier than promised, flippin cold and windy (as well as wet) so we didn´t hang around... In fact Tim and I put a good 20 minutes into everyone by the time we made it to the lunch spot... which was a little tricky to spot. My coat was wet through, so I took it off, put my fleece on but ended up sitting next to the fabric... so now my fleece was wet too! Not long before we needed to be going again the rain stopped; gave me a chance to dry everything off. The second pass wasn´t so bad - I just took it slow and steady, but didn´t really stop. We spotted a hummingbird at the top, then set off down, via some ruins to the second campsite.
Next morning also dawned wet, not surprising really when you consider that we were in a cloud forest!
After a short while we reached the highest point of the day, down through some more ruins and the rain became harder... we then had a choice... go to the third campsite or go to some more terraces... I chose the first just so I could get dry! After lunch the rain stopped and we could see the terraces from the campsite! A quick walk over to the other inca site "Winay Wayna" (I think), quite a nice site, but it had been restored so you couldn´t tell what was real and what the archaeologists had made up.. not happy about that! Back at the campsite we made tea for the porters to say thank you, then sat down with a beer for a game of cards, and back for the final supper on the trail. Afterwards we made a song and dance... quite litterally.... we had to sing for the porters so we chose Yellow Submarine - but only the first two verses, then the acapella part of Bohemian Rhapsody!! The porters then sang a couple of songs and danced with the girls in our head torch light, then it was time for bed.
When I woke up the next morning (3:30am) I couldn´t move my neck... great for sightseeing!!
By 4:30 we were at the back of the queue for the control point, and a little after 5 we were moving along the last part of the trail. The "Gringo killer" steps didn´t really live up to the billing, but they did put us into the clouds, so by the time we arrived at the Sun Gate we could hardly see each other, let alone Machu Picchu. As we wandered down to the first viewpoint the clouds started to clear, and by the time we reached the entry gate at the bottom the sun was out... but my neck still hurt to move more than about 10 degrees. Robot man for the day, then!
We walked down to the main entrance (hurt like xxxx) and I basked in the sun that had just come out... this freed my neck up a little, and about 8:30 we went back in again on a guided tour. It turns out that quite a lot of Machu Picchu has been restored, too.... and noone really knows what it was for, or when it was abandoned. There is some evidence to suggest that the Incas tried to keep the Spaniards away by fighting battles with them in adjacent valleys, but no one really knows when it was abandoned, and the names of the buildings, even the name Machu Picchu are all new, as are the guesses for what each room was used..
This meant I asked way too many questions for our poor guide... I decided to keep schtum after the second exasperated look. After 2 hours the rain began to fall, and naturally I´d left my coat at the entrance with my bag. Nevermind, it slowed to a drizzle after 10 minutes. A wander back through the ruins, including several close encounters with llamas and I grabbed an ice cream before the bus down to Aguas Calientes, probably the most expensive town in Peru! We were booked into a restaurant beside the train line.... was kind of strange as it felt like the town was built solely for the train. After lunch we jumped on the train, just before the rain really started again, and travelled an hour and a half back up the valley, before jumping into a normal sized minibus to take us back to Cusco. The cloud had lifted by now, and we could see some of the surrounding 6000m peaks as the sun went down. A v simple meal tonight... chicken and chips, but the chicken tasted goooood!

My last full day in Cusco and the sun was out.. Tim (roomy) and I wandered to the Q´orikancha - believed to be the Temple of the Sun in Incan times, but the spanish had absolutely butchered the place, leaving only a few Incan rooms. Next a western style lunch - I had huevos rancheros and Lemon, ginger and honey tea (amazing), and the strenous walk up to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like sexy woman, but replace the e with an a). The kiosk wanted us to pay 70 soles each again, but we managed to negotiate 70 for the pair of us. Just as we reached the plateau we heard the first clap of thunder... great, heading our way, too. As we reached the top of the plateau we were met by a chap claiming to be a shaman in training, and he wanted to show us the energy of the place... at first he asked us to close our eyes... I was holding on to my camera so tight my arm was turning white, but he turned out to be harmless, and in some of the relaxation breathing he had us do my neck felt much better! Back down in town we had alpaca for tea, and a couple of drinks before crashing out.

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Photos

Christmas high in the Andes
Peruvian champagne.... I won't be importing any...

corn beer
an acquired taste

Ollantaytambo
can you see the kneeling llama?

another of Machu Picchu
prounounce the first c in Picchu, too

Sacsayhuaman
pronounced Saxy Waman - but you knew that already!