Cusco

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On the TACA flight from Lima to Cusco, I (Greg) pondered why I ended up with this wanderlust. Perhaps spurred on by the impending completion of another of my bucket list entries (Machu Pichu, after Galapagos) I thought about those things prior to entering university that really whetted my appetite: once uni started there were a hundred things. I came up with three things that my parents provided: the Time/Life series on countries; Sir Francis Chichester’s book on circumnavigation; and repeated entreats to “see the world before settling down”. Catherine remembered her Father always encouraging her brothers and sisters to look for what is “just over the hill” rather than sticking on the main road.

The flight was packed with tourists. Many – probably most – were significantly younger than we four. We flew past a high snowcapped mountain range to the north. It appeared to be almost the same height as us. It almost was. The flight continued beyond Cusco and then banked steeply back to the west. It zigzagged and dropped between steep treeless mountains towards the Inca city. The plane then skimmed quite closely over factories and office blocks on its way to the airport. A somewhat clumsy single-wheel landing plus full bounce heralded our arrival. Like Quito, the airport is pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the city. It was Saturday the 5^th of August and the sky was crystal clear blue. The temperature was brisk and the air cool. We met our extra keen guide at the airport and he proceeded to tout for our next week of touring. He went a bit remote after we rejected his expensive single day tours and told him about the four day trek already booked. The taxi climbed quite high into the Cusquenian suburbs and we were dropped at the bottom of a steep set of stairs. First real climb in Peru. The Hotel Casa de Campo was about 50 steps up, and the more steep steps up to our rooms. Cusco is about 3300m above sea level and my gear was not getting lighter so I was feeling it. Special view over Cusco though. Well worth the effort. At the same height in the city were a number of small churches. Celebrations included fireworks and skyrockets and the explosions seemed to be right beside us.

Through the afternoon we explored the local area and headed down to the main square (Plaza de Armas). This place is built on the foundations of an Inca city and the remnants of that engineering heritage are obvious all around. Large polished granite boulders accurately placed and with little if any mortar. No surprise that the central area was packed with tourists and many touts offering “unbelievable” bargains. I particularly like the artist showing pretty amateuristic Peruvian sketches, and referred to himself as Michelangelo. Further around the square were shops selling absolutely anything a traveller or trekker could possibly imagine they might need. We had to confirm our trek with Peru Treks so we walked to their shopfront just on the outskirts of the central city. This company had come highly recommended by our daughter Elise, who had travelled this way late in 2011. We knocked on a locked door and a guy poked his head out from the second floor. “Sure come on in”. The payment was straight forward, though multi-currency. The briefing was simple and light-hearted. Personal porters, sleeping bags, sleep mattresses were confirmed. Start time would be 0540. Excellent. The walls of the office were decorated with adventure posters, and in the corner stood two life-sized, but Inca styled statues, each complete with swollen genitals. Despite my lingering concerns about my capacity to complete the walk, we were all excited. The next step had to be the formal introduction to Peru: Pisco Sours. We found a small touristy pub just off the square and enjoyed. The conversation quickly got back to politics. After two of these and a hearty but simple meal we headed back up the stairs to Casa de Campo. My heart was not getting used to the high altitude exertion, particularly on a full stomach.

The Campo breakfast room was surrounded by glass and had a fireplace. Wonderful spot to spend a few morning hours. The temperature was brisk but the sunshine cut through it. After the Titicaca trip no one was keen to do another full day tour so we chilled. Later we visited a pre-columbian art museum and the cathedral. The latter was the conflation of three separate churches each of different eras (Jesus Maria and El Triunfo). The artworks were spectacular and in particular the silver-faced central altar. One of the portraits of the last supper included many clues to the South American origin of the artist, including the roast Vicachas on the table. Another alcove featured a black Christ on the cross. Dinner was at a little BBQ (charcoal) restaurant on our street: Chequachaca. Bill had the meal he had been looking forward to Chicharron – deep fried pork. It was apparently excellent though all the locals advised him that it would be too heavy for an evening meal. As is the case in many places in the Spanish-speaking world, the main meal is lunch rather than in the evening. The grind back up to the Campo saw to some rapid digestion.Our equipment for the trek was limited to what we wanted to carry ourselves, plus 2.5 kg that could be carried by the porters. This meant a pretty selective pack for each of us. It was probably the biggest issue for me because I am not reknown for travelling light.

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