From lima to Cusco.. how to climb Maccu Piccu in cowboy boots

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well this blog is at least 4 weeks overdue but i got there eventually!! After leaving mexico we arrived in Lima airport on the 26th september only to be mobbed by taxi trivers each one offering "good price!" after much debate and haggling we finally found a guy and his friend who agreed to take us to where we were staying for $10 dollars, however it didnt go quite to plan...first they tried to seperate us from our luggage,that was not happening, then when all 3 of us and our luggage were in the car began the task of gettin them to take us to our hostel,peruvian taxi drivers really dont like to take you where you want to go apparently everywere we wanted to go was closed but all the leaflets they gave us of hotels were amazingly open.The drivers mate even had the cheek to call the hostel we wanted to go to and put me on the phone so he could tell me it was closed the only problem was i saw the number on the screen and it wasnt the hostel it was just a friend of his,then the drivers mate passed me a reciept for $40 dollars, this was the icing on the cake,all of us blew up and refused to pay it, we got to the hostel, the wrong hostel but by this time we just wanted somewhere to sleep. We agreed on a price that was still a rip off but not as bad as $40 and with alot of bad language and angry shouting we waved goodbye to our nightmare cab drivers.
Lima itslef is not a very nice place just a city so we got out as soon as possible and made our way to cuzco escaping the nasty cab drivers and rude peruvians, Cuzco is up in the andes mountains about 3300 feet above sea level so needless to say the altitude is slightly unpleasent and the drive up is windy and sickening althought the changing landscape is amazing, ive never been so glad to be on solid ground as i was when i got of that bus, it takes a couple of days to adjust so we explored cuzco which is a beautiful city, very quiant and spanish with cobbled streets and a mixture of tourists and crazy peruvian ladies that walk around with very small hats and big skirts usually carrying a child or two on their backs.
We arranged our tour to maccu piccu and left at 5.30 in the morning. Maccu Piccu for those of you that dont know is a very large Incan ruin on the top of a mountain, we went on a 4 hour train journey and stayed the night in a town called Agua Callientes, another early wakeup at 4am to meet our guide who took us up to Maccu Piccu on a short bus ride, everyone at Maccu piccu was dressed in hiking gear, but me and Bridie however do things differently, not being the hiking type our only suitable footwear was cowboy boots and flip flops which was fine for us but everyone else seemed a bit concerned, after the tour we had a few hours to explore and Bridie and Dom climbed a nearby mountain, i however passed on the chance, was feeling a little light headed and not up for anymore climbing. Maccu Piccu itself was amazing and the views are fantastic definatly the best part of peru!!
next port of call will be copacabana!

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Photos

Bridie and Dom praying against the stone
before you climb wynapiccu you have to pray on the rock for safe travel up the mountain

dom lying on the sexy bed in agua calientes
quite possibly the tackiest hostel, i think this was their attempt at adding a touch of class!!

Comments

[Amy]

Wow!!! Your alive!
Hey guys I'm so glad that i've finally heard from you! was starting to panic! Wrote to Dom yesterday on myspace! Well looks liek your having an amzing time! Love the chat with you walking footwear, don't worry i would have been wearing high heels! Well miss you and wish i was there. XXX