Machu Picchu to Lima

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As I write its raining again. Its been doing a lot of that for the last week so much so that I've invested in a blue plastic poncho very fetching and a snip at £3, but then it is the rainy season so I suppose I've got to put up with it. Despite the weather I've had a great time in Cuzco.

It is, so my guide book tells me, the oldest continually inhabited city in he Americas. Some of the back streets are still lined with walls put up by the Incas. Its mainly the centre around the Plaza de Armas and the alleys leading off it that are of interest the further you move out the more grotty it becomes.

After a few days here I booked a trip up to the famous lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. Travelled a couple of hours by bus to the train station at Ollantaytambo. From there it was another couple of hours on a very nice train with panoramic windows up to the small village of Aguas Calientes, spent the night there before getting another bus at 6am for the final 30 minutes up to Machu Picchu.

I've seen quite a few famous archaeological sites around the world and to be honest some of them just look like a pile of old stones but not Machu Picchu. It really is very impressive as much for the setting in the Andes as for the site itself. I had a guide (Michael Angelo) with a group of others for a couple of hours and then another few hours wandering around on my own.
The weather wasn't great to start, with yet more rain but it did clear for a few hours and was still fairly warm so all in all had a great day.

That was all a couple of days ago and I'm now back in Cuzco where tomorrow I shall be taking the 20 hour bus ride up to Lima, not looking forward to that very much. After a few days in Lima its on to Ecuador. I may see if I can find a cheap flight as me and marathon bus journeys aren't getting on too well.

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