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Published: August 6th 2007
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The bell towers of La Compania de Jesus
The views from Cusco's Plaza de Armas under a bright blue sky You can always sense you're nearing a world famous "must see sight" by the appearance of Japanese and Korean woman in massive sun visors. These woman never stand still and talk continuously, whilst their husbands (who never talk) take photos of them awkwardly posing in front of Angor Wat/Uluru/Sydney Opera House or in this instance Lima airports unforgettable and majestic gate number 16.
Our flight to Cusco was our third with LAN who kept up their high standards of rudeness and misinformation flying us firstly back toward Newzealand before a sharp U-turn allowed us enough altitude to clear the section of the Andes that looms just beyond Lima.
55 minutes later we landed nearly 11,000 feet higher than we started and began our much anticipated adventure into the ancient Inca history of South America and one of the main reasons this whole crazy 12 month trip came to be - a visit to the "lost city" of Machu Pichu.
Cusco The sheer volume of tour companies camped out in Cusco's tiny airport strongly suggested that Machu Pichu is no longer "lost" but as our first correctly spelt (and printed) name board of the trip got us to
Looking down on Cusco
The place is stunning from all angles, although this view is probably the best our hostel we noticed a marked improvement in our surroundings.
No smog or pollution allowed the beautiful mountains that surround Cusco to come into clear view, a small plaza had a seemingly unattended Llama roaming around it and modern high rise buildings were replaced by modern low rise buildings (Cusco's obvious base for Machu Pichu means development is unavoidable).
This changed as we approached Cusco's central plaza and the roads became cobbled and the roofs terracotta and we arrived at our small hostel called Monte Horeb set in a 100 year old building with a peacful courtyard and shy staff led by Emma and her brother Martine.
Cusco (inca translation "qosq'o" - naval of the earth) is stunning, its history as the major Incan capital plus its obvious redesign by the Spanish in the 16th century give it a unique mix of architecture and culture. Inca temples stand alongside impressive Catholic churches and the main square - Plaza de Armas - bussles with cafes and has narrow cobbled streets, many with original Inca walls, shooting of it in all directions.
The only down side to all this is the high end tourism has brought money, which in turn has
Cusco's San Blas square
The view from the front door of our spanish school brought some begging and all sorts of hassle the likes of which we havent experienced since Asia.
Whatever type of crap from postscards to finger puppets, feather dusters to Llama jumpers you get offered it and unscrupulous woman in traditional dress with children on their backs and Llamas by their side hunt down people who have taken their photo and demand a dollar (after getting spotted taking a photo from a distance, they hunt me down demanding 2 dollars, one for each Llama)
Just like in asia the kids are persistant, but their sense of humour and sales pitches are priceless
You want postcard?... maybe later?.....maybe tomorrow?....maybe next year?.......maybe in the next life senor?
You dont want postcard? what do you want? ......maybe it is some peace and quiet you want
but by far the best...
Where you from...England? capital Londres. My name is Bill Gates, maybe you remember me and would like to buy my postcards?
The 2 mile high club Being two miles above sea level can cause a few problems and even getting out of bed leaves you feeling breathless - The locals cure altitude sickness by
Cusco's Plaza de Armas
The all day sunday flag celebrations were our highlight of South America so far. The sights and sounds were unforgetable...and free drinking gallons of coca tea which we sample immediately and although it tastes like socks after my fourth cup I am hooked and rename it Kate Moss Tea or Cocaine Cordial. After spending our first 48 hours taking it easy and drinking approximately 20 cups of Kate Moss Tea we booked ourselves onto a five day Spanish course and a horse riding trek around the nearby Inka ruins.
My only horseriding experience was well over 10 years ago but with no questions asked I got lifted onto the back of a horse that was clearly too small for me, told the word for stop, was given a slap on the arse (the horse, not me) and sent off into the Andes. It was a great day, Carla´s horse Alison was well behaved but my horse bolted whenever I made the ´stop' noise and continually farted whenever he was going up hill. By the final Inca ruin - Sacsayhuaman which sits high above Cusco - I was dirty, saddle sore and a half decent horse rider and saying goodbye to´'Whoopee' (as I had named him) was a little emotional especially as he let off a final farewell fart before heading
The backstreets of Cusco
Steep cobbled streets, balconies the colour of the bright blue sky and the Andes all around....what a place back into his stable.
Yo Hablo No Espanol One thing that travelling makes you appreciate is language and although up to this point we have managed to get by with a mixture of odd words and international hand gestures - travelling for four months through Latin America with no concept of Spanish is nearly impossible, so with Cusco being one of the most stunning and cheapest places on earth to learn we decided to delay our stay and at least learn how to say "No I´m good for postcards, but thanks for asking Bill Gates!"
Day 1 goes well, numbers 1 to 1,000 and the ability to ask the shy girl from the hostel her name, age, job and where she´s from (Marilos, 27, works in the hostel and lives 45 minutes from Cusco).
Day 2 it got difficult and although to no surprise Carla took to learning like a duck to water, I struggled with the masculine and feminine nouns and had a Homer Simpson moment where I was in the room but all my brain thought was "meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow"
Day 3 things started to fall into
Daylight bloody robbery
The nearest ones not smiling because I wouldnt give her 2 dollars for this photo place, well as much as regular verbs can fall into place and that evening we even managed a full conversation with a waitress when ordering our dinner (shock horror, Carla actually orders and eats Alpaca - a sort of Llama)
Day 4 regular verbs became irregular verbs with absolutely no warning (meow, meow, meow, meow) although it was noticeable that our teacher Nadia spoke to us both only in Spanish and we pretty much understood.
Day 5 sentences were formed and Nadia sent us of with knowledge to put in practice over the next 3 months. It was the first time I had been in a classroom for over 10 years so I felt a bit like an old dog being taught new tricks, but Nadia and the spanish school were fantastic
Cusco has been fantastic, our 8 days hasn´t dragged as despite its touristy faults the place just enchants. The weather during the day has been good to the point of sunburn (although the nights are freezing!!) and below are just some of the things we will remember.
Continuing our transformation into Chris and Gwyneth by becoming regulars at a
Fat guy on a little horse
No wonder he kept farting, panting and trying to throw me off at every opportunity dirt cheap vegetarian place run entirely by Hare Krishners
Watching the FA Cup final in the highest Irish owned bar on the planet (10730ft above sea level)
Soaking up the unforgetable sights and sounds of Cusco´s all day Sunday 'flag' celebrations sitting on cafe balconies overlooking the main square, whilst the whole town parades past dancing, throwing bread and letting off fire crackers
Visiting the areas most important Inca temple, only to learn that the Spaniards had looted it and built a Catholic church on top
Learning that subsequent earthquakes then destroyed the church, leaving only the original Inca sections intact
Becoming ever so slightly dependent on the power of coca tea Next stop Machu Pichu, where we plan to arrive at sunrise to avoid the sun visors.
Paz
MandC
PS Come on the Scousers!!
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winn et mozza
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como esta usted ?
well what a great blog, the photos are stunning and the history just as important, loved the photo of carla on horseback, but not the way to talk aout your FIANCE!!!! Know what you mean about the learning it apparently does get easier but we have yet to discover that ourselves, but you two bright young things will have no trouble, and it is a great idea to learn the language there and be able to put it into practice, so much easier to order fish than crocodile we would think!!! Everyone here wishes you well and hope you continue to enjoy Peru and beyond. love always our intrepid travellers, take care hasta la vista!!! love weener et mozza xxxxxxxxxx