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Enroute to Cusco we stopped off at the Sillustani ruins - these are huge funerary 'chullpas' (basically funeral towers where they burn their dead!) that are made of massive blocks of stone of up to 12m high and wide. We then stopped for lunch at a one-horse town where we paid about 1 pound for a set menu of vegetable soup (that had chicken's feet and other random bits of chicken in it!) and then vegetable stew which was actually rice with one potato and a lump of chicken (the bits that weren't in the soup!). It tasted ok and there was the cutest dog there doing tricks to try and get fed, plus another scraggy dog not doing anything but still expecting titbits! Then this bloke came along and proceeded to help himself to the chicken foot and other bits off the side of my plate. What?! He then went around everyone's plates doing the same before trying to grab Michelle's sprite. Er, I think not!
Finally got to Cusco in the evening and after a bit of a trek to get through the outskirts (we hit at rush hour) we got to the historical centre which is just beautiful. Cusco is at the heart of the Inca empire and is an incredibly picturesque colonial city. It's also known as the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas as well as the continent's oldest continuously inhabited city. There are still loads of original Inca walls and steep and narrow cobbled streets. It is, of course, most well-known for being the gateway to Machu Picchu which was rediscovered in 1911 and brought tourism to Cusco. More on MP later.
We went out to dinner to a pretty posh restaurant (for a group of overland backpackers!) and then a few of us went on to a bar owned by a mate of Gaetano's - Juan the Peruvian. We got the 1st drink for free (the best pina colada I've had to date!) and after buying my 2nd, I decided to head back home, leaving Verity to party the night away and stumble home at around 3am!
On Wednesday we went for a wander around the town which really is stunning. We didn't really go into any of the touristy places, not even the cathedrals as you had to bloody well pay (!) but they were lovely from the outside. We walked down the street where the original Inca walls are and found the 12-sided stone. This seems to have been made an amazing site but it's basically a stone that has 12 sides to it (as opposed to 3 or 4 or 5!) and wasn't really that great to be honest. Still, they can make tourist sites out of anything these days and as long as there are Americans about, people will flock to see them (sorry my American friends but you know it's true!!).
I stocked up on a few essentials for the forthcoming trek, then after the briefing about the next 4 days (aaaargh!!), we went out with 2 of Verity's friends who happened to be in town. Then it was early to bed ready for an early start as we embarked on the much-awaited (and feared!) trek of the trip!!!
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