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Published: April 22nd 2007
Cusco's Fanciest Hotel
With Catrin's birthday approaching we thought this could be a nice treat but at $450 per night she's not worth that much! Our flight from Santiago to Cusco had us up early, and just as we were getting dressed, there was an almighty rumble and our room started to shake! When this didnt stop after what seemed like an eternity - at least 5 seconds - a mild panic set in and Catrin shouted at Rich to get his clothes on - as at this point he was looking like the rabbit caught in the headlights with just his boxer shorts on ;-)
Anyway suffice to say our mini earthquake experience was over in just a few seconds but will forever be imprinted in our memories!
We had 5 days in Cusco to acclimatise to the altitude before the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and fell in love with the place immediately. Cusco is absolutely stunning and is also totally set up for tourists so you get some great home delights like French Toast with maple syrup, bananas and strawberries, massive sandwiches (such a treat after ham and cheese rolls for 2 months on the trot) and yummy fresh mint and lemon teas (basically poof's tea for Charlie & Rich).
But as we couldnt just hang out in cafes
Central Cusco
Plaza De Armas all day we decided to take Spanish lessons in the mornings. Rich is of course now fluent - he was particularly a good student in the 11-1 slot as he fancied the teacher. This is payback apparently for Catrin's drooling over our spanish teacher when we took classes in London. Not true of course, she just thought he was very funny and interesting!!!
The title of this entry is not strictly true. We did stay off the booze on Sunday and Monday night. But then we cooked spaghetti bolognaise and thought this an ideal time to crack open the bottle of red wine we had bought at a vineyard in Mendoza. Primarily of course so that we didnt have to carry it around anymore...
All in all, we still didnt feel terribly acclimatized by the time we were picked up at 5.45am for the first day of the trek!
You will see the pictures but we are certain the Inca Trail will be one of our top 5 highlights of the trip. Not just the history and the ruins, but the actual trek itself is stunning. On top of that you get to camp out in the
Central Cusco
Cusco central Cathedral built in 1559 middle of the mountains with no-one (other than your 12 tourist companions, 2 guides and 21 porters to make your life as easy as possible) to bother you while you watch the stars, the sunrises and the sunsets. Just gorgeous!
It was also Catrin's birthday on Day 3. Rich mentioned this to the guide the night before and just as we finished breakfast, the porters and chef all came into our 'dining tent' with a rendition of happy birthday in spanish and a massive cake, fully iced with Happy Birthday Catrin written on top. You would not believe what these guys can whip up out of nowhere. Other than being totally embarassing for Catrin, we were unbelievably impressed, and all the group even happier to be getting cake for breakfast!
Thanks to those of you who said we were mad to miss this off the trip - it really would have been a major error...
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Caroline
non-member comment
All sounds fab! Catrin you are getting a dab hand with the camera!! You had me in absolute bits laughing at Rich and Donkey!!!!! Incredibly funny! xxx