Adios Cajamarca, hola Cusco!

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Today I arrived in Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire, having completed my medical elective in Cajamarca with another week observing various operations in the surgical department. Although it feels great to be properly on holiday now, I was a wee bit sad to leave Cajamarca this morning having spent the best part of a month in the highland city.

My final week in Cajamarca was pretty tiring, with 7am starts everyday and later and later nights as the week went on as I tried to cram as much into my remaining time as possible! Having had my first experience of obstetric surgery 2 weeks ago I enjoyed being introduced to paediatric, urogenital and opthalmologic surgery this week. After a fortnight´s placement in surgery and a week in a rural medical clinic I am very pleased with the experience I have gained through this elective. It´s also been really challenging to work in a Spanish-speaking hospital and rewarding to notice my improvement in simple conversational skills over the weeks.

Eímear and I spent a good bit of time with Juan this week - he took us to an open air restaurant to try anticucho (cow´s heart) which was so tender and absolutely delicious! The following afternoon Juan explained the history of the Inca Empire and Spanish conquest as we walked from Banyos del Inca to Otusco in glorious sunshine. On Thursday, having finally realised that my desire to rent a motorbike wasn´t going to materialise, Juan arrange for us to drive a car to San Nicholas Laguna - driving felt great after 7 weeks of being driven and the lake was beautiful and so peaceful.

Last night I went out for one final dinner with Eímear, Juan, Anita, Julio and Diana. It was such a pleasent evening, delicious food and lots of Spanglish banter! A really great night to round off a wonderful month with my new friends in Cajamarca.

Now that I´m in Cusco my plan to visit Machu Picchu is coming to fruition... Tomorrow I leave at 7am and will cycle for 5 hours through the jungle before spending the night at San Marino. On Monday I will hike for 8 hours to Agua Calientes which is also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo (Town). And on Tuesday the plan is to climb to the summit of Machu Picchu first thing in the morning before returning to Cusco on Tuesday night.

Can´t wait to share the story of my jungle/Machu Picchu adventure with you.

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Comments

[Lorna and Stoo]

What about me? Im a medical marvel!!
Aw wow wee rico, sounds like you are just having a blast. You're probably up Machu Picchu right now as I'm typing this (Don't look down!) Can't wait to see you on saturday. Feels like you'ved been away for ages and pages! Hehe x x x x x x

[Matthew Souter]

I found your blog!
Rump! Daz told me you had a blog so I just had to check it out to find out what you've been up to. Looks like you're having a great time and quite some adventure. Sorry to hear about your tonsillitis and the resulting jab in the rump (worrying times for the "king of the mooners") - ouch! I presume you've not got long left until you head back to sunny Carluke but I hope you enjoy the remainder of your time. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Hasta luego, Zuko x

[Mum]

Nearly home
Well, boy - o, you are nearly back after 8 weeks of amazing adventures. Really looking forward to seeing you, and to hearing a lot more, but the Blogs (and , of course, emails and phone calls have been great, especially all the amazing photos. See you soon and love you as always, Mum.xx