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Published: July 26th 2006
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An early rise in Lima
Or is it Baghdad? Didnt stay too long to find out... Que Tal Amigos,
I hope you are all well... We made it through the mid section of S America and are now in Buenos Aires Argentina, a fantastic town which I will tell you more of later...
So Peru, the land of Llamas and men with flutes. We had a great time seeing the sights of Peru albeit a bit hectic at times given we stayed in 8 different hotels and one night bus over 9 nights with some rough spots along the way but, had a fabulous time exploring.
The end of our trip in Quito ended a little strangely with a young man exposing himself in the street at the lovely wife on the afternoon we where heading to the airport, a bit odd. But then on walking through the security gates at the airport, another young Ecuadorian man with a bunch of flowers in his hands, throws himself at Roxy confessing his undying love for her... Obviously I had to get physical with the young man and after wrestling him to the floor the security men came over and took him away as he shouted, ¨but I saw her, I saw her¨, aaaand whats your
The welcome commitee as we arrived at Cusco
At first we thought we´d arrived for Cusco´s gay pride festival with all the rainbow flags! point mate I replied, all very bizarre.
So what we think was going on was this guy was creating a diversion so his mate could fleece all the on looking crowds waiting to get through security of their wallets. Terrible, travelers beware if crossed by strange men with flowers at Quito airport.
We arrived in Lime Peru late that night and headed in a taxi out to a Hotel we´d booked to find out it was bang opposite what I could only make out to be an underground rave with hundreds of kids going in and out, it was quite surreal, it felt like being in some strange Russian suburb... Lima does have economic issues which unfortunately resonates itself throughout the city, would not recommend as a must see city... Early that next morning we headed straight back to the airport to head onto Cusco. What a memorable first wedding anniversary that was...
Cusco was a lovely city with a very cool climate due to its elevation of 2600 meters, again full of colonial Spanish charm, and as we arrived on our first anniversary booked ourselves into a very nice hotel, a much-needed rest after the traumatic
couple of days.
Then onto the main event that morning, the trip to Machu Picchu. We opted to take a tour through the Sacred Valley of the Incas and spent a couple of nights at different hotels on the way, a great option if you have the time, the area is stunning with an aire of south American mysticism, very nice place...
Our final stop was in the closest town to Machu Picchu, Aguas Callientes, just a half hour ride up to the top, so we opted to take the first bus up to the top at 6.00 am to see the sun rise. Absolutely stunning, would definitely recommend doing it this way as it also gives you the chance to explore the ruins before the tour buses arrives.
Machu Picchu was such a highlight of the trip, an amazing feat of architectural engineering and an incredibly spiritual area. Its like a city in the sky, amazing minds to put that together 500 - 600 years ago. Still no one truly knows what happened to the people of Machu Picchu, they lived there for only a hundred years and then either moved on to flee from the
Spanish invasion in 1500 - 1600 or died of a disease. The city then remained hidden in the mountains for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham in early 1900.
An amazing experience and definitely recommended if you get the chance to go and see it...
And that was really as far as we got in Peru, from there we headed down to Cusco by train and jumped on a night bus to Copacabana Bolivia. I was quite looking forward to the bus journey after hearing stories from fellow travelers of luxury cross continental buses with fully reclining seats, food service, bar, pillows, it all sounded too good to be true.
And of course it was, we didnt manage to get on this phantom luxury bus service. To be honest our bus was reasonable, however as we where the last to book on the bus, we had the last two seats in the prime spot right next to the toilet, yeap 8 hours on a bus through Peru next to the loo... Then there was the cold, we where not prepared for just how cold it would be, freezing! Thankfully we had our new woolen Inca outfits
to keep us from freezing, but still it was cold, the closest thing I could compare it to would be riding through the Alps in an open top bus, that was our bus...
But all good for the spirit and adds to the tale. And so that was Peru, a very nice country, didnt get to see enough of it, but pleased with what we did see...
Next stop Bolivia...
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