Blogs from Cusco, Cusco, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 52

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South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 11th 2008

Actually, it is a cardinal sin to call Carmen a bus - she must only be referred to as a truck as there is a distinct hierachy amongst drivers, busses being well down the pecking order compared to proper trucks. The title for this update reflects the fact that we have being doing some serious miles thes last 2 weeks or so, mostly ending up in destinations where there is no internet access, hence the radio silence from darkest Peru, a country I am reminded was the original home of Paddington Bear, named as we know after a certain railway station in London I have (reflectively) fond memories of.... So, we have finally left Ecquador (after a somewhat protracted border crossing) and travelled 1000 kilometres along the Peruvian coast, the most part of which is desert ... read more
Rapido senor! Rapido!!
Looking for Condors
The beer, the bus....

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 10th 2008

There are 19 DAYS until my big trip to Cuzco Peru! At this point I've gotten my Hepatitis A shot (which made my arm hurt for three days btw), and only have one more Typhoid Fever pill left to take (I didn't have any horrible side effects like the pharmacist made me believe I would). Now I'm just waiting and freaking out that I'm leaving so soon, and still feel like I have NO IDEA what to expect! I'm very very excited, slightly nervous (but not really), and anxious! I think all of those emotions will only be getting magnified as I get closer to the actual departure date! I wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me both in financial and emotion support. It means a lot to me to know that I ... read more

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 9th 2008

We arrived in Cusco bright and early after another delicious night bus. The hostel turned out to be great and although it was a little bit of a walk outside the centre we had all our creature comforts which makes for a rather pleasant stay, especially when you´re looking to recharge your batteries, as we were Cusco was the heart of the old Incan empire and this colonial city´s foundations are the ruins of so many ancient buildings. This place has so much history and I made sure to drag Vicki around with me to all of the main attractions The day we arrived we chilled out for a spell, recovering from our trip before we tipped out and about the city to see what it had to offer. Luckily for us, there was a lot. ... read more
Action shot
Iglesia de san Francisco
The view off plaza San Francisco

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 8th 2008

We came up from copa, stayed one night in puno and are now in cusco. Our hostel, LOKI, is awesome, so much to do and so many travelers, oh and they are playing harry potter rite now, woop. The first day was of general exploration of the city, then going out to a restaurant too expensive for us, but it was good food. Next finding our friend from the dorm wre are in Nick, we headed out on the town hittting up the local, called kamakase. One moment there was oasis playing then a traditional peruvian band with pan pipes and everything. Rocking out whilst drinking on particular soup sized cocktail to whatever the one tonne rodeo song is. Returned late up the enormous staircase which is the street of our hostel, for some reason was ... read more

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 5th 2008

I arrived to Cusco from Lake Titicaca and my plan was to stay only a few days. I wanted to get to know the city, nearby Sacred Valley sites, do the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu, and then move on from the very touristy Cusco to the North of Peru where the gringo trail is not quite as crowded. However, as most backpackers experience, when you make a plan, things rarely end up that way. And that is one of my favorite parts of this type of travel...I have the time and freedom to change where I want to be and for how long. When I arrived to Cusco in November, I met up with a girlfriend I had made in September in Medellin, Colombia. Her name is Courtney and she is a journalist from Sydney, ... read more
Pisac Market
P1050035
Adorable child hanging out while her mommy works in the market selling things to the tourists.

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 5th 2008

Once again, too many things have happened since the last blog entry, and this time I'll just put things into chronological order by visited cities: Valparaíso: The joys of waking up on a smelly single mattress on the floor, going to the bathroom, greeting the cockroaches and the ever-expanding, wall-annexing mould and trying not to put too large a quantity into the toilet bowl, so that it's still able to flush. Yes, we had an interesting host and place to stay in Valparaíso, a French girl speaking fluent Chilean, not Spanish, which was really the only admirable thing about her, she who is living the hippie lifestyle with everything from smoking weed, sleeping until 4pm, and talking only about herself all the time. The fact that she didn't take an interest in us was less frustrating ... read more
Streets of Valpo 1
Paseo Pastor Schmidt
Hostel in Valpo

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco December 2nd 2008

And so our time in Peru had to draw to a close. But after a good nights sleep, there was still one traditional tourist activity to tick off - it was time to eat some guinea pig, or cuy as its known here. We'd been tipped off that there was a place called Tipon just outside Cusco which was the best place to try the local delicacy, so myself, Beth, Rob, other Beth, Sam, Vincent and Bernhard found ourselves a bus out there. Upon arriving in Tipon we weren't disappointed. We were met at the bus stop by a Cuyeria propietor, and one glance down the street showed that every second building was a restaurant selling guinea pig. We went with the woman that met us off the bus, being as she'd put the effort in. ... read more
Alive and kicking
Which one to choose?
Fresh from the oven

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco November 29th 2008

Well we decided to catch a flight from Lima to Cusco, thought it might be easier - not with me and Boucs! We forgot our ginormous swiss army knifes in our hand luggage so had a massive argument with the security guards who wanted to convescate them. Boucs managed to go all the way back and check them in just in time. Well what can I say about Cusco. Absolutely loads to do here. Bars and clubs everywhere, girls are over the English guys - which doesn't help us really! Went quad biking in the sacred vally which was totally awesome! Woke up the next morning limping for some reason, got picked up by our guide to do the Inca Trail which involved us walking 16 KM in 8 hours the first day. He saw me ... read more
The sacred valley
The sacred valley
Quad Biking

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco November 28th 2008

What an amazing place Peru is. It really is full of surprises and Cusco is a delight though may be a little too touristy. It seems the military plays a pretty big part in the every day life of a Peruvian since you see some sort of police official everywhere. So much so that I thought it would be fun to get some shots with the authorities wherever I could. As you can see here the riot police were hilarious and very friendly. Cusco´s main square is the centre of town and a gorgeous place to people watch. The streets are full of Spanish churches and amazing markets where you can buy anything and everything from a bulls head to a pineapple. And as for the earrings - I can´t possibly tell you how many pairs ... read more
Cusco
Cusco
Cusco

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco November 26th 2008

We made it - after 4 days of full on trekking we finally made it to the majestic Machu Picchu alive! Having previously trekked the Himalaya, I thought this was going to be a breeze. Afterall, we were only going to 4200m and we I reached 4500m in India without hassel. This was sure to be a walk in the park. Luckily we had only 8 people in our group ( 4 aussies, 2 poms and 2 spanish) and with most of us pretty fit we set off on foot from the 82km mark. Day 1 was a beautiful clear day and it seemed to Giss and I, that the pace seemed pretty slow at the start but at least we could take the time to notice the secenery. We passed some early Inka ruins and ... read more
Inka
Inka
Inka




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