Advertisement
Published: August 14th 2007
Hola everybody, today is our very first day in Bolivia having arrived across the border this morning, so with that in mind I think we should update you on the last two weeks! Yes, we spent a lot more time in Cusco than we originally planned, but it was definitely worth it.
We got to Cusco for the first of August, after a marathon twenty hour bus journey from Lima. We´ve been so lucky with the buses out here, for this journey we had seats that reclined until they were practically beds, non stop movies playing and dinner and breakfast too. For a tenner each, we thought it was worth splashing out! Unfortunately no matter how good a bus you get, mountain roads that are continuous switch-backs at high altitude are not too kind on the stomach, and it was a pretty restless and nautious journey.
But we made it! And after the disappointment of Lima, Cusco was so much better. Set high up in the mountains (around 3400m I think?) Cusco is really picturesque, with lots of little cobbled streets, a grand main plaza, lots of churches dotted about and views of the mountains all around.
We´d
Brrrrrr....
It's cold in Peru! been advised by travel guides and people we´d met to spend a few days acclimatising to the altitude, as altitude sickness can be pretty horrible, so even though we were itching to get on an Inca trail and up to Machu Picchu, our first three days were spent at a more leisurely pace (which we all know I prefer haha). But it did give us time to explore the town of Cusco, and we bought a tourist ticket that paid for our entrance into all the various churches in the centre of Cusco, and out to the Sacred Valley.
The Sacred Valley is basically an area with various sites of Inca architecture around Cusco, and we took a day to go out to Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, Q'enqo and Sacsayhuaman, the four closest Inca ruins. They were really interesting to walk around, as you´ll be able to see from the pics! Tambomachay used to be Inca baths, and off the top of my head that's all I can remember (terrible I know), but when I add the photo's I shall consult my guide book and give you a description in the captions!
Anyway, after three days we were booked
and ready (well actually, completely unprepared) for our Inca Trail! We weren't booked to go on the original famous Inca Trail, as this gets booked up about four months in advance, but instead we were taking a route through Salkantay mountain, down into the jungle and eventually to Machu Picchu after five days. I was slightly worried (understatement) to learn that the Salkantay trek is harder than the original trail and about twice as long, but it was too late to start worrying by then! xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.121s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0867s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mum, dad, steph and Mike
non-member comment
Hi,
Hi, James and Nicole, Hope you are both ok, we hope you are not in the earthquake area! Giving everybody a text will reassure all concerns and make all our holidays happier! You sound like you're having a fantastic time - we are all quite envious!! We are off to Cyprus at the weekend and will miss all the football- all your teams are entered-James- and not doing very well - hard luck!!!! Looking forward to seeing you both, Luv Mum, Dad, Mike and StephXXXXX