Blogs from Cusco, Cusco, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 14

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I don't really have a good excuse. But since the last time, I have been to the biggest festival in Cusco (Inti Raymi) pretty Impressive stuff. The whole ceremony is in Quechua, but one of the locals let us see the script in Spanish, so I sorta knew what was going on. It started about 10am in the main square and then we went up to the ruins above Cusco, Sacsayhuamán (pronouced Sexy Woman!) and there was more of a ceremony. It was really hot and sunny and I had hat, sunglasses and factor 50 on the go. It was a fairly steep climb and it was so hot, took it outta me hi! I didnt take great photos of it, it was very crowded so I ... read more

After leaving Copacabana we crossed the border into Peru and into the Puno region, famous of late for it's protests against foreign mining contracts in the area. The main highway in this region is mostly closed to traffic because of roadblocks made by the locals but we thought we'd try our luck on our bikes. Most of the roadblocks are just rocks and mud with a bit of broken glass scattered along the road so we could weave through ok on our bikes, but some blocked the road entirely and had locals sitting on them! We managed to get through them by lifting our bikes over and smiling, pretending we were just stupid gringos, which seemed to work pretty well as the peruvians were really friendly! After cycling about 60km from the border the blocks cleared ... read more

Hola aus Iguazu. Es giesst wie aus Kuebeln, also ab an den Computer fuer ein letztes Update. Wieder viel erlebt die letzten zwei Monate, insbesondere weil mein Freund Yves noch zu Besuch kam! Also los... ...Cusco, Choquequirau, Manu Reserva, Salkantei, Machu Picchu, Puno, Uros, Titicaca-Islas, Arequipa, Volcano Misti, Coropuna, Colca-Cañon, Huaraz, Cordillera Huayhuash, Laguna 69, Mancora, Iguazu. Nach solanger Zeit wieder ein vertrautes Gesicht, freute mich riesig auf die Ankunft von Yves. Die naechsten Wochen waren schon so gut wie geplant. Wir haben uns jeweils an bestehende Gruppen meines Freundes Heradio, der eine Reiseagentur hat, angeschlossen. Die erste Tour ging nach Choquequirau, die Schwesterstadt von Machu Picchu, welche um die gleiche Zeit erbaut wurde, jedoch noch nicht ganz freigelegt ist. War ganz schoen anstrengend, runter rauf runter rauf und die Hitze. Nach einer... read more

Tuesday and Wednesday The flight went via Juliaca near Lake Titicaca. The country is semi-arid and very rugged, with volcanoes and lakes. Juliaca is located in a very wide flay valley surrounded by low mountains (sedimentary rock turned on end) a deep purple brown colour. The houses are boxes of the same colour as many are built of mud bricks. As we neared Cusco, the Andes rose up in sharp snow-capped peaks and glaciers. We arrived in Cusco during festival, part of Inti Raymi (festival of the sun). Some of the streets of Cusco were closed for the parades which started mid-morning and were still going at 8pm. 3 TV stations were broad-casting live. Every day there is music, dancing and parades somewhere in the city. All very colourful and noisy. We have learnt a new ... read more

Paulina who is the director of the clinic organised her niece to take me on a tour around the sacred valley yesterday. So Marcia, her niece collected me bright and early at 8am to go to tour bus. It was nice to be able to talk english again for a change, as all the people on the bus spoke english! There are loads of towns and ruins around cusco, so I still have more to see. But yesterday I went to Pisaq, a fairly big town with large market and big ruins. Stopped for lunch at Urubamba. Ruins at Ollantaytambo, really big ruins! And the last stop was Chinchero, which was the highest stop of all, about 3760m, this was a really traditional village with gorgeous church and lovely people! Pisaq ruins were great, really big. ... read more