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Published: December 1st 2009
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After a short flight from Lima we were in Cusco. The flight in through the Andes was spectacular and I wondered why such a big city was in such a remote location.
Our hotel, Los Ninos II (The children), was beautiful, very simple but clean and modern. The hotel was set up to fund a charity whose purpose is to feed some 600 underprivileged children in Cusco and provide them with hot showers and somewhere to eat 3 times a day. One Saturday they held a birthday party for the children with dancing, games and food. It looked like great fun and Amy looked at them longingly, probably wishing she could join in.
Our first day out in Cusco and we had mixed feelings about it. On one hand it has a spectacular historic centre with plazas, churches, immaculately restored colonial buildings, posh shops. On the other hand we were hounded by people touting tours, selling nik naks, indigenous women selling a photo opportunity with them and their cute baby or lamb. In addition, there were tourists everywhere, even though we were in the low season. That aside, we went on to have an interesting day and visited a
beautiful convent and a monastery with the Qorikancha Inka remains within it, really well preserved.
The next day we took an organised City Tour. We visited The Cathedral on the main plaza. It was an outstanding Cathedral, ornate and majestic. Within it were famous oil paintings, golden alters, beautiful chapels, countless models of Christ depicted in every gruesome way you can imagine with blood all over him. There were catacombs but only very small and only for important religious people. While in the town Amy was approached by some young schoolgirls who wanted to have a photo with her. Five minutes of photos later and they were so happy that they wanted to give Amy gifts. It would have been rude to say no so Amy accepted a necklace, a postcard and an ornament (bit chunky so not sure how it will fit in the backpack...). It was really touching that these girls wanted Amy to have the gifts and she found it hard to understand why they were being so generous.
After the Cathedral we went to the colossal Saqsaywaman a massive Inka fortress with some stones that weigh 70 tonnes. Sadly the Spaniards used it as
a quarry for buildings in Cusco, so about 80% was gone from the site, however what remained was still awesome. Once again Amy was set upon by camera touting children (and their teacher) who were desperate for a photo with Amy. Two by two they had their photos while Amy stood and smiled - although it was clear she wasn't entirely comfortable being surrounded by thirty excited Peruvians who were treating her like some sort of celebrity!
We then visited three more interesting sites (although none on the scale of Saqsaywaman.
Next day we hired a private guide and transport to take us to some sites in the Sacred Valley. First was Pisaq, a large Inka city which sprawled for a huge distance. The mountainsides were covered in terraces used for agriculture, the remains of villages and a huge cemetery.
We stopped at an Alpaca and Llama farm where Amy was able to get up close to them and feed the alpacas which of course she loved.
After lunch we went to Moray a very unique Inka site. It has a huge number of circular concentric farming terraces which they may have used for experimental farming.
We loved the “floating” steps that let you go down each of the terraces and Amy had great fun tearing around. In fact Amy loved running around all of the ruins even though it was at altitude and while we were huffing and puffing she was running and doing starjumps (just to show off). She made great friends with Marcelino, one of our guides and wanted him to stay on holiday with us.
After Moray we went to an incredible Salt Mine. It had been used for a 1000 years and was set in a valley with hundreds of terraces which were filled with salty spring water. As the water evaporated off it left the salt which was farmed and processed there.
Finally, almost to Ollantaytambo, we stopped the van when we spotted the most incredible sight. It was teenage girls in full indigenous dress, playing a game of football (soccer to the Aussie readers). They had over their costumes numbered football shirts and they were giving the game everything they had. It was for a local festival and the crowd were also dressed up in traditional clothes. We guessed that the game wasn’t to be taken too
seriously as the male onlookers seemed to find the whole thing very funny and entertaining. It was a colourful spectacle and the best thing was it had nothing to do with tourism, it was just a village out having a fun time. One more stop then to a house who had some local alcoholic drinks for us to sample. I can’t remember the name of them, probably because I have no intention of drinking them again - one was like rancid cider! There was a fun game set up by the house where you threw gold coins onto a wooden board, trying to get them in a frogs mouth. None of us succeeded.
We were dropped off at our hotel at Ollantaytambo. El Albergue at the train station is lovely. Our bedroom overlooked the train platform so we can watch all the Macchu Picchu trains come in. Certainly one of our most unique accommodations on the holiday so far.
After a leisurely breakfast we headed through the village to the Inka site of Ollantaytambo. As we wandered around it became more and more impressive. Around every turn there was another structure, another temple, some with water running through in
man-made channels. It was restored, but not rebuilt, and it was quite intact. You needed only a little imagination to see what an incredible city it had been in an awesome setting in the valley. Some of the pathways along the side of the mountain were narrow and a little unnerving but it was wonderful to have access to so much of the ancient site. We spent hours there exploring with Amy inventing stories about how we would live there with all of our friends and family and she was deciding which room to live in and where she would have her garden. She wasn’t bored for a moment and neither were we.
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kathryn morton
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pics are unbelievable - you're doing an amazing job at giving us an insight into your adventure. Amy looks in fine spirits. Business as usual here! Much love to all. Kathryn