Advertisement
Published: August 20th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Hi everyone!
Latest update of our travels covering Cusco and our trek through the Lares Valley to Machu Picchu....
Arrived in Cusco to find breathing had suddenly become a little difficult! Altitude means even walking up stairs left us out of breath and we were generally more tired, I suppose it is at 3,600m above sea level after all! It also left us a little apprehensive of our 3 day hike if we couldnt walk up stairs very easily!
Cusco is a beautiful place, very touristy as it is the base for everyone going to Machu Picchu but still very pretty, cobbled streets and women in traditional dress with llamas! Food is also very good here, we tried alpaca steak which is nice as just tastes like beef however is hard to get picture of cute fluffy alapaca out of your head when your eating it! Paul is gearing himself up to try "guy" (guinea pig!) which is apparently served like a ran over guinea pig deep fried! (nice). Shopping is also good here, went a bit crazy buying alpaca wool jumpers and socks etc. but you cant refuse at those prices!
On out first day in Cusco (my bday!) we
Paul on his throne!
Sacasahuyman Inca ruins explored the Inca ruins of Sacasahuyman above the city which were interesting,however im not the biggest fan of ruins (Machu Picchu aside!) but Pauls very much enjoyed himself! Afterwards we looked round the Cathedral in the main square which had a big painting of the last supper including a guinea big as the main dish on the table, which is just wrong! We managed to get most of Cuscos sights done that day but wish we had longer there as is such a nice place, and nice to spend my birthday there. However we were off on our trek VERY early the next morning!
At 4.30am we had to get up in order to meet our group for the Lares trek and catch a bus to the starting point. The Trek involved 4 days and 3 nights ending up at the star attraction Machu Picchu. The first day we climbed 600m to 4000m for lunch which wasnt as hard as it sounds, at our camp for lunch we were greeted by a feast of food (3 courses!) which our cook russelled up on the side of a mountain! That afternoon we set off through the Lares Valley to our first
camp site in a small town in the middle of nowhere. We were greeted by small children in traditional dress which we originally found realyl sweet but turns out they had an alterior motive, they were requesting food of us! That night wasnt too cold (although i was in full outdoor clothing!) and the stars where amazing, we saw the milky way as well...
The second day in the morning it was to be the hardest bit of the trek, 700m up to 4400m which was VERY hard and Paul was suffering from altitude sickness and had bad headache so didnt help matters, due to male pride he refused to ride to the top on the standby horse! That night we camped in another village in a valley and contuined to enjoy very good food produced by our cooks!
The following day we hiked 4 hours down to Ollantaytambo, where our train to Machu Picchu leaves from and also the sight of some impressive Inca ruins. Caught train to Aguas Calientes, the town near Machu Picchu and enjoyed the hot springs in the town (although there were alot of people in them and kind of felt like you were getting
in a dirty bath!). On the way back from the hot springs I left Paul on the internet so I could have a shower and an hour and a half later he still hadnt returned! I had already searched the town once to not avail, on my second try I found a very scared looking Paul tearing his hair out on the main street! - he didnt know the name of our hostel or where it was and had been walking round for over an hour!
The following morning we were up at 4.30am (again!) to catch the first bus to Machu Picchu, Paul was considering walking up which was an option however it involved a 2hour walk up steep steps in the pitch darkness so was decided against! When we got there for when it opened there was a massive queue, its such a touristy place but doesnt take away from how amazing a sight it is. Although when we arrived it was raining so first view of the site was a little tainted! however rain soon cleared which was amazing in itself watching the mist rise up over the mountains. Our guide took us on a good tour
We made it!
Me and Paul at the highest point of our trek, 4400m. round the place, it is such an interesting place, how they managed to built that place in that location is astounding. We then just sat on some the terraces in the sunshine looking in awe at the place.
That afternoon took train back to Cusco and the following day (today) we caught a bus taking 7 hours to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca which we are going on a tour of tommorow morning (blog to follow!)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.05s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Guy of gisborn
non-member comment
Guinea pig mmmm!
Wow! Is so cool that you guys are there. It's real deja vue here. Paul you've gotta try Guinea pig (but it does taste like crap!!). Ha ha about getting lost Paul. I got lost in Puno which was a bit scary but managed to find my way back along some train line. You'll either be back from or out somewhere in lake titicaca. Did you stay with a family?? Ahh is really making me wish i was back there seeing the pictures. Enjoy the rest of the trip you two before you come home. And a belated happy birthday Susie, no better place to have it then Cusco.