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Published: November 5th 2007
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The aqueduct
This is a breathing hole for the aqueduct After the Nazca lines, we went on a tour of some of the other sites in the area, including the ancient Nazca aqueducts that are still used today (Jen´s favourite bit), and a demonstration of how the Nazca made their ceramics. Don´t think the tour was worth the money we paid, but never mind. Bus back to Lima the next day.
We spent one night in Lima and in the evening went to an area with bars and nightlife. They celebrate Hallowe´en here in Peru, but they also celebrate traditional Peruvian music and dance on the same night, so we went out to see if we could find it. Not knowing where best to go, we chose a promising looking bar, and were treated to a live Peruvian band churning out some popular songs. It definitely wasn´t a touristy thing - we were probably the only non-Peruvians in the bar. It was a good atmosphere with everyone dancing to each song (and being South American doesn´t automatically make you a good dancer!). *I even dragged Jamie up a couple of times!
The next day, we flew to Cusco. We selected a hostel from the guidebook and asked a taxi
driver to take us there. He dropped us off the bottom of a steep hill and pointed up. At an altitude of 3400 m above sea level, climbing up with all our stuff was not easy. Panting at the top, we find there is no room, but there is in the inn at the bottom of the hill. So began our acclimatization.
Cusco is a beautiful city. Situated high in the Andean mountains, it´s colonial architecture blends in well with the Inca foundations that can still be found there. The atmosphere is spoilt somewhat by the touts offering everything from shoe shines and massages to rafting expeditions, but it is still easy to see why everyone we´ve met have only good things to say about the city.
We spend the first afternoon doing little more than checking in with our trekking company (they like to make sure you are acclimatized for the Inca trail by requiring you to turn up at least two days in advance) and chilling out in a tea-shop opposite the cathedral. We have also managed to organise a trip to the jungle from Cusco straight after the trail (good idea, or not?). The next
day we visited Koricancha, the Inca´s temple of the sun. Only the foundations and a few buildings remain, but a church had been built on top of it by the conquistadors. In the afternoon, we climbed up to the Incan ruins of Sacsayhuamán (many travellers like to pronounce this "sexy woman"), high above Cusco. The Incas planned Cusco in the shape of a puma and Sacsayhuamán was meant to be the head. A lot of the stonework was removed by the Spanish for their buildings in Cusco, but the ruins are amazing nonetheless. That evening we decided to go British, so we had a curry in the local Indian and washed it down with a pint of Old Speckled Hen in the Cross Keys.
The next morning (yesterday) we visited a couple of museums, a church and the cathedral - nothing much to comment on except for an old painting in the cathedral depicting the Last Supper in which Jesus and his disciples are feasting on the local delicacy - cuy (or guinea pig). We´d organized a homestay with a local family for that evening with the same company we are doing the Inca trail with. We met Adrian
(who we were to stay with), and with two other participants, we travelled first by bus to Pisac (* where Jamie got hit on the head by a fellow passenger, who fell asleep standing up on the bus) in the Sacred Valley, then by taxi to the village of Amaru. With five of us in the taxi, Jen had to sit on my lap, which was fine until we left the paved road.
At the village, we were to stay with Adrian and his family, while the others stayed with Pablo, who turned up in the most colourful poncho and hat I´ve ever seen. Once settled, we left our stuff and were given a tour of the village. To get to Amaru, you travel up from Pisac, through a narrow pass and into a wide, and very beautiful valley. At 3700 m above sea level, the walk was not easy, but they went slow for us and pointed out all the surrounding mountains and villages. At the top of our walk, we reached what seemed to be a pile of rocks. On the western side a hole allows you to look inside to see human bones. An Incan burial,
we were told by our hosts. *Although it's only a small, fairly remote village, they had 3 churches of varying sizes, still in use.
The village is spaced out over quite a wide area. The first language here is Quechua, but most speak some Spanish. No-one speaks a word of English. Each family has their own bit of land for growing vegetables (mostly potatoes) and keeping animals. Their houses are simple, but spacious, and are made of mud bricks. *They have running water in the house, but the toilet was a squat, out in the back garden in a little shed.
Adrian's kitchen doubles as living and dining area, and numerous pens hold the guinea pigs, which will form part of a feast on special occasions (birthdays, weddings). We sat in there after our walk and were treated to coca and camomile tea (good for the altitude). Our dinner was vegetable soup - simple but tasty. It seems we were being treated as Adrian and his family had a different soup to us.
After dinner we went out into Adrian´s courtyard where we found the others already dressed up in brightly coloured dress along with their host
family. We were to suffer the same fate and were soon as brightly attired as everyone else in the courtyard. After a while, another man turned up with a flute and was soon playing accompanied by Pablo on a drum. All the children were quickly up and dancing, and dragged us into it as well. For about half an hour we danced, just us and the children. The adults just stood and watched. Afterwards, we sat around for a while before everyone else went off to their houses. Then another coca tea and off to bed.
In the morning, our breakfast consisted of some sort of porridge with cinnamon, which we drank, and little pancakes made of maize and eggs. *Jamie managed to eat about 5 of the pancakes! After breakfast, the courtyard again filled up with people, and we were shown some of their woven handicrafts. We bought a belt and were then ready to go. We asked if we could have a picture of us with the host and his family. This prompted a frenzied gathering of family members and dressing them in the most colourful fabrics that could be found. We said our goodbyes and set
off back to Pisac on foot. Pablo (still in his finest attire) led us first down through fields, then along a dusty road. Once we were through the narrow pass, we could see the Incan terraces leading down the steep hillside from the ruins above Pisac. After some more (*uphill!) walking, we reached the ruins and, passing the tour buses, started walking through them. Pablo showed us round and did his beat to explain things to us. From there we walked down towards Pisac, along Incan terraces and cliff hugging footpaths. By now it was quite hot. When Pablo finally took off his bright alpaca poncho, we saw he was still wearing a woolen jumper underneath!
In Pisac it was the Sunday market selling food and handicrafts. When we got there (just after noon), we said goodbye to Pablo and went in search of a drink and lunch. We were quite tired by then so we didn´t stay long in the market (but we did buy the obligatory alpaca hats), but caught the bus back to Cusco.
So here we are. *Me with blisters already! Tomorrow we start early for the Inca trail. The next blog will probably
be after the jungle trip. See you then...
Jamie
* and Jenny
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Elaine Whitehead
non-member comment
Love the outfits! Will you be wearing them at Christmas? lol! Have fun on the Inca trail and have a happy birthday Jamie xx