the first bit of exercise - machu picchu, wanya picchu

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so as we´re lazy and tight, we decided not to do the 4 day inca trek to machu picchu and got the train instead and instead of getting the train from cusco we got a bus to ollantaytambo (pronounced oi-yan-tan-tambo) say it quickly!!! and then got the train from there..im sure we were fooled into doing this but apparently we had to get the vistadome on they way..its the posh train like!! and its well worth doing..theres windows all over the train even on the ceiling so you can look up and they serve you tea (coca tea..ha ha) and sandwiches-they were greatly appreciated by us..unfortunately the view was not we fell asleep due to the gentle rocking motion of the train, and the fact that on the way up we had to endure 3 hours of an american man telling us why he was a vegetarian-you´re talking to the wrong people sunshine..not sure he approved of the fact that i had tried llama then .. whoops!! although he did bang on about stats and how much damage the transportation of the beasts caused to the environment with all the pollution that is given out..falling on deaf ears...and he was also stumped when he said he eat fish but lived in the midfdle of new mexico so i asked him how that was ok when the fish would have to be transported and also if he only ate seasonal vegetables (he didnt) because they would have to be transported as well - stupid yanks!! i shall be a laywer yet!

ollantaytambo is absolutley beautiful its a little village set to the backdrop of massive mountains and also has some ruins there..which we didnt go to-whats the point we´re going to machu picchu!!!there was however a market..and some great photo oppourtunities to be had!! after enough meesing around we got the train to aguas calientes (for thos not in the know that means hot springs) its also an absolute hell hole..built solely for tourists and is teaming with restaurants and tacky goods..kind of like the beach line in magaluf..unfortunately we had to spend two nights here because we couldnt get the train we wanted to get back-lack of organisation..the classic we´ll do it tomorrow in cucsco!!!anyway we got the 5.30 bus as instructed by mark burnell and not only were we first to the bus stop but also the first on and the first into the site...

well we saw a little sign saying the long way round..not sure why we thought this was a good idea-it was early brain not functioning correctly!! but it was well worth it we climbed up to the watchman´s tower and you come out of heavy bushes to the most awesome site of machu picchu...it was raining and the clouds were so low and the light not good and you could really get the feeling of the mystery of the place...so omnious with one side falling away into the valley and a river that looks like a stream below...it really is astonishing! well after taking some photos of the wild llama that wander around we spotted a sign to point us in the direction of the ínca bridge´well after a fair walk i was expecting some sort of swing bridge across the valley..although entirely what i had in mind..it is still pretty silly what they went across!! its a tiny wooden platform on the side of a sheer cliff and not much room to manoever up to the spot that we saw it at..not sure how they did it!!!we then realised that if our competeive streaks were going to be realised that we had to get into wanya picchu pretty quickly...wanya picchu is the mountain that looks over machu picchu and it is only open from 7am until 1pm and only 400 people are allowed up a day..so we scarped..

we signed in at 7.15 and were the 7th and 8th people in..that was good enough for us!!however the sign at the entrance said ´only for the physically fit´well we only had 5 cigarettes the day before! ´only for people with a certain experience of hiking´ well we definitely looked the part..me in my combat shorts, t shirt and trainers, cara in her denim skirt and leggings and not to mention our rather fetching ponchos de agua!! ´ and the warning that it was a difficult climb..well we had 4 litres of water on us, 3 bananas each, 3 snickers bars each and 3 packets of oreos each - we were all set...!!! im telling that hike is really not for the physically inprepared...its a steep up hill climb to the top, theres water on the rocks as you climb up making it slippery, the altitude certainly doesnt help and 2 girls who really are fair weather travellers - not for the faint hearted..!! however we amnaged to make it to the top in 45 mins and we were the first up there...it should ahve been the american guy who almost skipped past us not even breathing heavily but my beady eye does not let opportunities pass me by and while he loitered about on this platform thinking it was the top i spotted a sign that informed me there was a little way to go..ha brains versus brawn!!! so first up wanya picchu whhere there is just a couple of rocks and a few ladders (not fixed-we´re in peru...health and safety would have a field day at machu picchu!!) and sat on the top and looked on to the postcard view of one of the most famous wonders of the world...not sure you can really top it..the views from there were staggering and worth all the complaining and hurt that we endured up there!!! and it was amazing to be up there with just 5 people and nothing else...especially as as we went down there were scores of people coming up (All out of breath i might add..and in hiking boots and proper water proof gear...pussies!!) we decided that we´d go and see the great caves on the way down, this involved a downhill hike into the cloud forest below machu picchu, unfortunately we were all too aware of the prospect that the further we went downthe more climbing back up we would have to do...the path seemed to go on for ever and eventually wee gave up (iknow where is our determination..??!!) it turns out that again brain beat brawn and we met the american and is friends on the way backup..we were literally 5 minutes away from the stupid caves and im telling you the pictures were not worth the bother!!! and it was nice to have some more company on the way back up-especially as the girl in their group loved to complain too!!!

being in machu picchu after was still interesting but not as striking as it had been early in the morning and from above. we did have a wander around though and so amzing to actaully be there but after the hoards of people in it it takes the majesty away from it and we returned to the horrible place of aguas calientes - good lunch though!!! next stop arequipa...well via juliaca and puno it turns out..we were duped into thinking it was quicker..oh no it was meant to take 10 hours to get to arequipa and we decided not to wait for the direct bus at 8.30pm, especially as we had been up since 4 for the second morning running and were in the bus station at 10.30 .. well you would have thought we would have been used to peruvian buses by now..it turns out you never get used to it you just hope!! the 8.30pm bus would have got us in at 3 am and we would have had to wait in cusco for ages, well we got into arequipa at 3 am anyway having taken the 10.30 am bus in cusco...another stone, paper scissors decision!! luckily the hostel we we wanted to stay in had room and pug puppy!!!!

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