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Published: November 14th 2008
The rafting team - the Suicide Bombers!
Michael, Amber, Alison, Reuben (the instructor), me, Mary and Dawn!Following my trek to Macchu Picchu I decided to take a well-earned rest in Cusco and relax for a while. I slept like a baby that night and had a well-deserved lie in. I spent the next day recovering from the trek and getting my dirty laundry done. I was so relieved to see the rest of my clothing and fresh knickers!! I sorted out all my stuff and cleaned my very dusty hiking boots. Later in the day I met one of the guides from the trek for a chicken lunch and then just took time to get back to normality after being 'at one with nature'. That eve the whole trek gang met in the Plaza for a reunion and a spot of dinner before everyone headed off in their own direction. When you travel you experience these wonderful short-lived friendships with people. Some last a few hours whilst waiting at a bus terminal, some last a day on on a trip somewhere and some last for several days if you're off on a long trip or excursion.
That night, we dined at Chez Maggy's and I tried Lomo Saltado that eve, a traditional Peruvian dish made with
On the rapids
A particularly good action shot. If you look carefully you can see me at the front fighting against the strong rapids, boy what a great workout for the upper arms! strips of beef and vegetables. I also tried a bit of Alpaca for the first time, and I have to say it was delicious. A very tender meat with a strong flavour. We had a wonderful eve together. We reminisced about the trek, dined on wonderful food and alcholic beverages and we had the company of a wonderful group of musicians who entertained us with Andean music. After the meal, the night was still young so some of us headed for one of the local nightclubs where we indulged in a few Pisco Sours and then some hardcore boogying. It was only Antonio the Brazilian and me left till the end, but it was a fantastic release after a week of intense physical exertion.
A few days later, I moved into another hostel where I had my very own bathroom (oooh!) and a tv. Rooms are pretty cheap in Peru and you can get your own room with bathroom, plus breakfast for 5 pounds per night. I spent the day browsing round town and it was very hot. I changed some travellers cheques, booked 2 tours and a day of rafting and spent 3 hours on the internet when
Me and Amber at Mama Africa
Just warming up with a stiff drink before a night of serious boogieing I officially started my blog!
The next day I went white-water rafting on a river just outside Cusco. I'd never tried it before and was really keen to have a go. The rivers here in Cusco are ideal for rafting and have varying levels of rapids (we only did up to level 2/3). There were 6 of us in the team, and consisted of 2 American ladies, 2 English girls and a Dutch guy. Rubin was our guide, and when we arrived at the river after about an hour's drive we started our basic training. We were taught the basic commands and what we had to do when in the raft. The Dutch guy Michael decided that our team name would be 'Suicide Bombers' and once we put on our wetsuits and lifejackets on we were ready to put the theory into practice. We had a lot of fun trying to follow Rubin's commands initially as it took a while to remember what they meant, but soon we got the hang of it. I absolutely relished the challenge and took a position at the front alongside Michael who in all honestly was a bit rubbish! So it wasn't long
The ruins of Sasquaywaman
I´ve never seen such huge stones! My, how did they get them there.... before one of the US ladies took his place and then we had a really good rhythm going. We paddled our way over rapids, and there were some strange sensations at times as the river´s strong current pulled us side to side and spun us around. Not suprisingly we got very wet but it was well worth it. We only had about 4 hours on the water, but it was really exhausting work and a fantastic workout for the upper arms. Alongside our raft we had a back up team of one guy in a canoe who often went up ahead of us and took shots of us in the raft. We finished the day with a lovely lunch by the river. We agreed to all meet up that eve as we had to pick up a copy of the CD from Rubin. So we met in Nortons pub on the Plaza, had a few drinks and then we finished the night off with a few games of pool (both of which I won!!).
The following day I headed off on the Sacred Valley tour - an amazing tour of the past heart of the Inca Empire (from 14th-15th
Centuries), about 10 miles outside Cusco. The tour started at 9am and I boarded a busy bus of tourists. Our guide had a very rich deep voice and spoke very clear Spanish and he reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones, the actor, but perhaps not quite as weathered and old. Anyway, we started our tour in Pisac, a picturesque town of mix-blood inhabitants which holds a market twice a week where pottery, textiles and silverware are sold. We then visited an archaeological site just outside of the town that used to be a large city and then had lunch in Urubamba. We then visited another amazing archaelogical site that was called Ollantaytambo. It´s a vast, massive structure that was previously a major town which is well preserved. You could clearly see the houses, streets and waterways along with a fortress, temples and farming terraces and walls. We did a fairly long climb to the top of this site as it was huge and took lots of fantastic pictures. Finally we reached our final destination, Chinchero, which was a jewel of a town, with a superb landscape, Inca structures and colonial buildings and a view of two beautiful lakes. The colonial
Me and the Inca king next to the famous 12-sided stone
As usual, my purple fleece takes centre stage and overshadows both the Inca King and the 12-sided stone.... Church here was built on Inca foundations and the Cross outisde the Church represented the fusion of 2 different religions, Christianity and the Inca religion of Pacha Mama.
The next day I had lunch with Alison, one of the girls from the rafting day and then we met Amber, another girl on the rafting trip. After lunch, I headed off on my 2nd tour, the City Tour. The tour takes you around the nearby archaeological sites and buildings that have great significance and history of the Inca civilsation. We visted Koricancha, which means 'Golden/Sun Temple' and was the most important religious complex of Incan time. Next we went to Sacsayhuaman, just north of Cusco which can be reached easily by foot (also known as 'sexywoman'. Its shaped like a snake which symbolizes intelligence (incidentally Cusco is shaped like a Puma to signify power and Macchu Picchu is shaped like a condor for peace). The historians of the Spanish conquest attributed it military purposes that then became religious, and finally a place of work. Its hard to believe how they managed to transport such huge stones there (the biggest is calculated to have a weight of 125 tons!!). Walking to
Me and Inka king
You wouldn´t want to mess with him down a dark alley.... the top of the ruins takes you to the best views of Cusco and where you can also see the statue of the white Christ on a hilltop. Next we went to Q'enqo (means Labyrinth) which was a sacred sanctuary of worship to fertility and has an amphitheatre, a central monolith and underground galleries. It also has a table at the bottom of the cave which was believed to be used as a site of sacrifice, a common act in Inca times. We then briefly passed Puca Pukara (means Red Fortress) which was a military position and an administrative center. Finally, we arrived at Tambomachay which was an Inca sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the water, and it was a reserved place for the Inca. It is known as the "Baños del Inca" (Inca's spa). That eve, I went dancing with the girls to the Gringo club 'Mama Africa'. We partied hard and left the club at a very respectable time of 3am (that´s early here!).
The next day I visited the famous 12-sided stone which attracts many visitors in Cusco. This special stone has 12 different angles and represents the 12 Inca kings. Alongside the stone I
had my picture taken with a guy dressed in an authentic Inca costume, and I paid the usual tourist contribution. It was a national holiday that day so I took lots of pictures of parades and people dancing and there was lots of music, the energy in the town that day was fantastic. Afterwards, I went to explore San Pedro market and I saw the many food stalls which included cheap locally cooked dishes (usually containing chicken) and fruit stalls where you could buy any sort of fresh juice. The smell of the meat stalls wasn´t particularly pleasant as the meat is not kept cold! The food stallls were endless and my eyes were a bit overwhelmed by all the food. My main interest at the market though, was to buy some bargain alpaca-wear. After a bit of browsing I did very well and purhased a lovely orange alpaca jumper, alpaca hat (also orangy coloured) and a bag (funnily enough slightly orange too!) for a total of 55 soles (10 pounds!).
The next day I moved into a new hostel as I found a better deal elsewhere (when you´re staying in one town for a while its quite nice
Two beautiful children - Cusco procession
I said ´say cheese and smile´ but I don´t think they understood me. They´re so sweet yet so serious. One of my favourite pictures... to change hostels as you get to know different parts of the town and meet different people). On that day I happened to meet a very friendly french guy who worked as a chef in one of the most expensive hotels in Cusco, his name was Gillies. It was nice to meet him and he took me to the kitchen where he worked and invited me to try some chocolate, marshmallow and other delicacies. It was a bit early in the morning for all of that, but how could I say no, it was all so delicious!! He showed me some fantastic photos on his laptop of pictures from this travels, he´d clearly done a lot of travelling around the world. It was really interesting to hear about his adventures and stories and how he had finally settled in Cusco. I met him again later at a nearby coffee shop and bumped into him again the next day. It was nice to keep seeing his friendly face and he was such a funny character.
The next few days were quiet and relaxing. Then the following day, I started the day with a full Peruvian breakfast, a bit like a
Dancing girls - Cusco procession
Unfortunately the skirts didn´t go up high enough to expose a pair of frilly peruvian knickers! full English but with a Peruvian twist. I decided to go horseriding around the ruins for the day and it was wonderful. The weather was glorious and it was just me and the guide. He was only about 18 but I felt confident that he knew what he was doing. We rode the horses steeply up a path at first and when we got up to a certain point you could see the breathtaking views of the ruins that surrounded Cusco. It was so peaceful and I enjoyed the tranquillity of the experience so much. After a few hours we stopped at a place with more ruins and I got off my horse to take a closer inspection of the ruins and take some photos. In the meantime, the guide went for a quick nap. When I returned, the guide woke up and we set off again. My horse was a being a bit stubborn so the guide swopped our horses. The rest of the ride took us through a gorgeous shaded woodland area with beautiful scenery. After the ride, I walked back to Cusco, via the ruins, and I spent the rest of the day doing some Spanish and
Horseriding round the ruins
I feel that there´s something missing in this picture, a cowboy hat maybe or perhaps one of those whip-like things...?? writing some of my blog.
My final day in Cusco was very memorable. I had stayed in Cusco for 2.5 weeks and it was the longest that I would stay in any city in all my travels. Is was a beautiful hot day and there was a big celebration on that day to commemorate a previous Inca, Inca Huanca. There was an enormous crowd of people gathered outside the front of the cathedral in the main plaza and the atmosphere was fantastic. An array of different groups of people marched along the front of the Cathedral one after the other accompanied by a wonderful band playing music. The groups included schoolchildren dressed in their uniforms, medical professionals, disabled and handicapped children and the army. There were so many colours and different faces but they all did the same march, trying to coordinate their arms and legs together along to the beat of the music. It was really entertaining and a fantastic opportunity to take pictures. Later there was lots of dancing and performers on stilts and then another band arrvied on stage with flutes, pipes and guitars and played some beautiful andean music .
It was baking hot
White Christ statue
Oh my God he´s huge! I do wonder though how they keep him clean... that day and I ended up getting really sunburnt as I´d forgotten to put sunscreen on. I also met a lovely family whilst I was there and the father asked me to dance. So of course I obliged and we had a little dance and then had our photos taken next to the main float dedicated to Inca Huanca. I had a vegetable salad for my late lunch and then sat in the sun near the fountain and just enjoyed the rest of the day. I spoke to a guy for a while on a bench and then headed off to the internet cafe for a bit. I then went back to the hostel and got changed as it was getting cold and on the way back I purchased a beautiful Pacha Mama necklace. I then stood in the main Plaza listening to a group of musicians dressed in traditional andean clothes with flutes and drums playing authentic andean music. It was a wonderful sound and iy left me with fond memories of my last eve in Cusco. I couldn´t have asked for a more perfect last day in Cusco.
I was so sad to leave Cusco. I had
The crowds at Cusco´s parade
I love this picture, it was such a hot day and the atmospher of the crowds was amazing. had so many wonderful experiences there and met so many interesting people, but I knew that it was time to move on. I picked up my bags from the hostel and took a taxi to the coach station. At the time, it felt like nothing could live up to my wonderful time in Cusco. But then I felt excited at the prospect of what new experiences and people were waiting for me in Peru and the rest of South America....
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