14 hour bus journey

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The tiny plane was a harrowing experience. I was nauseous from about two minutes off the ground and spent almost all of the time trying not to be sick. The plane banked left and right over most of the more interesting images and by the time I came down I was covered in cold sweat. Paz and possibly everyone else in the plane noticed that noxious gas was bellowing out of me. We both had to have a little lie down afterwards. I can tick small plane flight of my stuff to do before somethingorother list but think I enjoyed seeing the scale model in a small museum out of town more. It had lots of dull archeological excavation explanations with very poor English translations, some unexplained rocks and then some skulls with bits of mummified skin and hair left on them with ropes through their skulls, also unexplained. The best bit was the walk a couple of km out of town to get there that took us past some of the less touristy bits of Nazca. A longer but even more interesting walk into rural areas that involved lots of asking for directions took us to an Inca reservoir that was still important for feeding agriculture now I think, although it was hard to work it all out. We had el menu dinner in a local restaurant away from the awful gringo pizzares. It was a repeat of our lunch the day before: meat and veg broth with lime to squirt in it, a choice of about six varietes of meat with rice and a small salad and a revolting toilet. This was followed up with three very strong cocktails in a pumping gringo bar and then a 14 hour bus journey to Cuzco. I dont know if it was the food, the alcohol, the windy roads or the altitude but I spent most of it feeling dodgy. Cusco is a beautiful colonial town built on top of the most important of Inca cities where you get slightly out of breath walking up a shallow hill. We arrived at the hostel, a 6th Century house, about 10 minutes before Al did. He has had the flu for two days and by the sounds of it had to make a serious effort to get himself here. Hes just joined me after a little sleep. Paz is still sleeping. He has no illness. So far weve had a chicken dinner, a poke around a traditional textiles museum and a look in a church. Tomorrow we will plan properly.

Ta ta,

Ed

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