Chilling, climbing and card playing in Cusco

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We awoke at 6amish to find the bus had broken down and have no idea what happened but found out we were an hour from Cusco and had to wait 3 hours for someone to come and fix it/save us/bring another bus...Luckily a local company took advantage of the situation and took most of us to Cusco for 2.50soles each, albeit on a school bus, with our luggage on the roof and a cold and uncomfy ride again. We arrived but no one was there from the hostel to pick us up as planned and it looked like were in a pretty crappy area so we took a taxi and the driver told us there are 2 hostel San Blas in Cusco. We tried 3 but with no luck. We then tried another hostel, Pirwa where we’d stayed in Nazca, but they were full (and expensive). So, Lisa got on the phone and called Los Andes in Arequipa to get the actual address from Victor (why we hadn’t done this in the first place we’ll never know!) but there was no answer. After trying a few more times, finally a woman answered and gave us the address, we called the hostel who said they had our reservation and had been waiting at the bus terminal (liars!) and so back to San Blas it was. Even after all this, the address the woman had given us was wrong but we found it in the end. And to top it all off and continue our run of bad times, the taxi driver, who had originally charged us 10soles, and who we were going to offer double seeing as he’d driven us around a while, asked for 40soles! This left a bad taste in the mouth so the only thing to do was head to McDonalds for breakfast (that was Koen, Carissa and Ian, Lisa found a nice little bakery serving yummy pastries and coffee which soon became our local brekky joint).

Lisa was feeling a bit rubbish, full of cold, blocked up and freezing so slept for a good 6 hours or so and woke up feeling a little better. And as for the hostel Victor had recommended, well it was like it was still being built with no kitchen or hot water for showers (even though both had been promised) and the most ridiculously soft bed that meant we both ended up snuggled in the middle of it. But at only 35soles (£8) a night, we decided to stay for the next 2 nights for sure and then maybe move on...so we quickly cold-showered and got out of there, printed our Machu Picchu rail tickets, then went for dinner at a yummy Italian, Trattoria Adriano, which had good food and amazing chocolate cake which cheered us all up. Even the prices were pretty decent compared to what we’d seen elsewhere as it’s a tourist town so gringo prices are what you get. We got in some food for the following day’s jaunt to the most sacred place in Peru and took in the sights of this beautiful looking town with lovely squares, old buildings and narrow cobbled streets, all built at 3500metres above sea level.

The 12th of May, a day Lisa had been waiting for for a long time, the day of truth...Machu Picchu!!! We were up at 7am to leave for 7.30 - made a quick stop at the bakery for last minute supplies and coffee, then hopped in a taxi to the train station. But, when we got there, a lady told us something had happened and we needed to go to the other train station. So we raced to the other station (it was a good job we had time to spare for a change), got there and were told to get on a bus as there’s a problem with the train, so it’s going to be a 2 hour bus ride to another station where we would be able to pick the train from - typical!!! How much more bad luck can we have?? The whole point was to take in the views on the train, in a nice and relaxed environment, sitting back and chilling, but instead we’re stuck at the back of a tiny cramped bus, almost flying along with a reckless driver and our breakfast nearly resurfacing, grrrrrrrrrrr! Anyway, we did pass through some amazing countryside and a few small towns - Urumbama and Ollantaytambo - before arriving at ... where we had to wait with about 1000 other people to get the temporary train service. No one explained why this service is in place but apparently it’s between April and June - Sood luck??

So after an hour or so wait, we finally got on the train and wound our way through the mountains arriving in Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to the site. There was a flood here in February so it’s a little under reconstruction and ramshackle to say the least. We desperately needed money and went in search of a bank machine. The first one we found of course wasn’t working and the only other one in the town had no money in it. Great! We weren’t sure what to do, as you stupidly couldn’t pay for the site tickets by card either, but luckily Koen and Carissa came to the rescue and lent us some money. So we eventually bought site tickets and bus tickets (they sure do make some good money out of Machu Picchu!) and had our lunch in the square before taking the windy, steep road up to the site (walking would have been a nightmare) gazing out upon scenery that is so recognisable - the mountains and the vegetation - and we all started getting very excited. There was a short hike up a little bit before we saw it, the iconic view everyone knows, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s so beautiful, even on a cloudy day like we had, and we wandered round for a good few hours taking it all in, in awe of the history surrounding this place. It’s amazing to think how they constructed it without the wheel, iron or cement at a height of 2492metres - what a breathtaking and beautiful place. It wasn’t too busy either, which was great, and we hooked onto the end of a few tours for some information whilst also reading about the site for ourselves. You were completely free to wander where you wanted, there were no restrictions in place or routes you had to follow which was refreshing, if a little unsafe! There were a few guards blowing their security whistles half-heartedly, and seemed to be more interested in their phones. As the sun began to go down, we headed back down to the town, so happy that Machu Picchu had lived up to our expectations. In town we had a quick, cheap dinner next to the station, where we shared a mahoosive beer for 13soles (£3). We boarded the train back to the temporary stop and played games to while away the time (not much to see in the dark). Sood luck continued though as the train stopped for what seemed like hours for no apparent reason.

There was then a mad rush to get a bus back to Cusco, but we hopped on one pretty quick by sneaking through a barrier - our mistake, we were to realise, as we got a flat tyre about 20minutes outside Cusco. The driver managed to get the spare on eventually with a little help from his friend and we slowly made our way to a gas station about 100metres up the road so he could pump it up a little...but Peruvian sense did not prevail and he pumped it a little too much then BOOOOM! We thought we were being shot at until we sadly realised the mistake this guy had made. So we then spent the next hour or so sitting in a freezing van waiting for rescue, with the guy not saying anything to explain what he was doing or apologise for his mistake (more Peruvian traits!) We eventually got picked up after the rescue bus drove straight past us, and then to top it all off, they dropped us all at Perurail offices and we had to make our own way home - nice treatment after we’d spent some 200dollars and been stranded for a few hours due to no fault of our own. A complaint to be written me thinks. We eventually made it back to the hostel and of course, the door was locked, so Carissa woke the lady (and half the neighbourhood) up by banging on the door. And into a crappy bed for some much needed shut eye. Such a rubbishy end to an amazing experience. Surely our luck has to change soon...

So, the next morning, all we wanted was a hot shower but apparently it’s too difficult in San Blas hostel to even get running water now, so we decided to find a new one. Mirador is much better, a bloody long and steep hike up to our room mind you but once there the views are fantastic over the city and we’ve got a little kitchen and outside space so the next few days should be much cheaper as we can cook for ourselves. Suppose it’s also good for the fitness regime! Staying here is going to be like staying in a small city zoo as there’s a motley crew of birds, dogs and cats running around as well three of the cutest kittens ever, only 5 days old, so young their eyes are still closed. To save money we’re sharing a room with the Dutchies with a private bathroom and hot running water - yay! Feeling much happier with our situation, we skipped down to town for lunch - more yummy baked goods in our local and then quaffed a few beers in the Plaza before a trip to the supermarket for supplies - got dinner, breakfast, lunch and booze for 4 of us, all for the princely sum of 25pounds!

For the next few days we spent most of our time playing cards (learnt a few new Dutch games - Toep and Donkey while sharing the beauty of Shithead with them), cooking great meals for ourselves (Koen and Ian’s experimental take on a carbonara takes the prize for sure but the introduction of apples to a tuna mayo sandwich was an interesting one too), drinking rum and wine, all from our cosy room with a view. We had one drunken night, where the 2 bottles of red and a bottle of rum and one too many drinking games, meant we didn’t actually make it out of the room into town as planned and just went to bed instead (Carissa with a bucket in hand!)

We did venture into town of course as well, to wander around, and had a few yummy meals at Jack’s Cafe (a Gordo = Fatty breakfast for Lisa and pancakes for Ian), another good Italian Adriano’s and an amazing meal at Brava, a near empty restaurant that served fantastic meat, yummy desserts and you got a free glass of wine to boot - why was there no one there??? Crazy. Also watched the FA Cup Final at Paddys, skyped the families and did some retail therapy. We loved Cusco and it started to feel like home, but with so many places to see we had to get moving, so after a week of downtime from the tours and the bus journeys, it was back on the trail and off to Puno.

Love as always

Lis and Ian xxxxxxxxx

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Comments

[Lisa Southern]

Blog on!
Loving reading your blogs, keep 'em coming! Great to hear your news, sounds like some awesome experiences, but sorry you've had a fair bit of bad luck along the way. Seems like that's the way things go out there in these tucked away, off the beaten track places. Thank god you've had your tetanus etc shots with those animals roaming around! All good with me, went to my cousin Lissie's wedding in Cornwall at the weekend, which was gorgeous, and puppy is coming in a week and a half - oh my god! Love you loads - Skype me soon - and I'll put the puppy on!!! Lisa x