Blogs from Cusco, Peru, South America - page 433

Well its time to head out of Dodge...I mean Cuzco and head down to Agues Calientes ( actual meaning Hot Springs) to see Machu Picchu. We had a very nice time checking out the museums that Cuzco has to offer. We found this really nice museum called Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo when he came to Peru built a church over the ruins of Qoricancha. This museum houses some of the best preserved Inca walls in Peru. We're leaving this afternoon for Urumbamba and then heading over to Ollanytanambo to view some more ruins and check out some of the markets. I've heard these markets are wonderful for their textiles. Tomorrow morning we catch the 5:45 train to Machu Picchu to watch the sun rise over Machu Picchu. We'll be spending the day exploring the ruins. After ... read more

Caught our flight from Santiago OK and made the connection at Lima for Cuzco. Not at all what I expected. Yes it's in avalley surrounded by mountains but the 'plain' in the middle is a long flat slope. Felt the altitude for the first couple of days but we are all fine. Had some lovely grub and some disappointing stuff - still trying to find a decent cup of coffee. Lots of frustrating but unimportant hitches. Fun taxi rides. Superb scenery, lots of walking. Machu Picchu is the place everyone goes, it costs lots to get there and in my view the site itself has equals, but the setting is incredible. Owen and I clambered to the top of Waynapicchu, the tall conicall hill on the rhs of standard photos - it is 2700m above sea ... read more

(Continued from last entry) The Sun Gate, Machu Picchu. Panting, walking in circles, wiping rivers of sweat from my face. Trying to recover and occasionally grinning with satisfaction at the other guys. There was absolutely no need to run like we did and it was a strange way to spend the first few moments at this spiritual place, but we felt like we had won a race and this was our prize. An unbeatable feeling. We settled in to wait for the rest of our group and dangled our legs over the edge. I broke out the chocolate snacks to put some energy back from the headlong charge through the dark. The sun was still on it´s way up from behind the ridge and any photos that we took bounced all of the light back from ... read more

Arrived back in Cuzco last night after taking train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo. Spent today wandering the streets, went to a couple of churchy type places - Convento de la Merced, and Catedral del Cuzco (really big cathedral, heaps of gold leaf over cedar carvings, heaps of religious pictures, including one with the last supper, but with a Guinea Pig as the main meal). Also went to an Inca Museum. (It is wierd, in Europe the museums, churches, and art galleries are really crowded but here in Peru they are relatively quiet even though some of the art, history, and buildings are just as amazing as anything you would see anywhere in the world.)... read more

Yesterday´s trip to Machu Picchu and climb up Huayna Picchu was really just an optional extra. But I could not just hang around in Aguas Calientes when Machu Picchu was only half an hour away on a bus. Today the tour group got up early to catch a bus from Agaus Calientes to Machu Picchu to get there before the people on day trips from Cuzco. Got to Machu Picchu about 7am, and most of us walked up to the Sun Gate to get the classic postcard views of Machu Picchu. About the same height as Huayna Picchu but certainly not as steep. The path to the Sun Gate is the one that people walking the Inca Trail come down to Machu Picchu after thier four day trek. Saw a few of them coming down as ... read more