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Tues 20 March
After a last quick walk around Puerto, we got the jungle truck back to the airport, then the 30 minute flight to Cusco. We checked into our hostel, Hostal Amaru II, a lovely little place (ignore the Lonely Planet's comments!) in the San Blas area - we even had a private room, en-suite bathroom and a great view of the hills surrounding Cusco. We had a walk to the main square, yes, you guessed it, yet another Plaza de Armas! It felt like almost being back to civilisation, although it is a bit too touristy and we soon got sick of people trying to sell us postcards, finger puppets, massages, pictures and lots more. Having said that we did have a look around some of the tacky tourist shops, and a coffee in a restaurant overlooking the Plaza, then later a three course meal for the bargain price of 20 soles (about £3.20). Despite the annoyance of constantly being bothered by locals trying to sell us things, Cusco is a beautiful little city, cobbled streets, old buildings, a Cathedral, all surrounded by fabulous views of the hills and rooftops. However, we had read that there are quite a lot of muggings/robberies so we had to keep our wits about us. I couldn't believe it but we actually had to hire a heater for our room - I haven't been cold for over five months, it's just not on!? Showers forecast for the next few days too - great!
Wed 21 March
We went on the 'tranvia' an old tram (that now has an engine) which does a tourist loop of the city and some of the surrounding hills. There were quite a few people dressed in traditional/local costume posing for pictures in return for money but we managed to get a few sneaky pictures from the tram! In the afternoon we had a walk around Cusco, then a couple of people came to the hostel to explain the finer points of the Inca Trail tours that we were booked on. Marie & I were pleased to hear that we were being collected at 5.40am in the morning!? We sat listening to the rain and thunder outside wondering what on earth the Inca Trail would be like after all the rain, surely not as muddy as the jungle........ please!
Thurs 22 March
Marie & I had opted to do the two day Inca Trail, whilst Ed was brave enough to do the four day Trail so we left Ed in bed as his pick up was slightly later than ours. We were collected at 6am and dropped off at the train station - it was a bit of a scrum trying to get through all the people selling ponchos and chocolate! Given the weather forecast we did decide to buy a couple of plastic ponchos though so paid for them then jumped straight on the train which was to take us to the start of the two day trail. The car driver had given us our tickets and a package which he asked us to take to the tour guide who would meet us at the other end - not sure what was in the package but hopefully we weren't used as drug runners!?
The train took about 3.5 hours to get to our starting point, KM104. We thought something was wrong when the train went backwards for a while but then after a couple of hours going backwards and forwards on the tracks we realised that it must be something to do with the steepness of the hills we were climbing. When we did reach our destination the train literally just stopped in the middle of nowhere and we had to jump down off the train onto the side of the track. There was a bit of confusion as we were told our guide would have a board with our names on it but we couldn't see anyone so we were just about to try and jump back on the train when we noticed a man holding a piece of paper with a name similar to that on the suspicious package!? Anyway, it turned out that was our guide, Valerio, so we headed to the start of the trail with him. It was raining by this point but thankfully by the time we'd checked in (you have to book the Inca Trail in advance and show your passport to be allowed on it) the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. We were surprised to find there was only one other person on our tour, a Brazilian guy called Carlos. As soon as we started walking, we started climbing uphill....... and it continued that way for most of the day! I think we started at around 2000m and the highest point we reached was 2750m so not bad for a days walk. We kept stopping at resting points to have the snacks we'd been provided with, and more importantly, get our breath back! Near the start of the walk we visited Intipata, a newly discovered Inca ruin. Then after about 90 minutes we got our first sighting of Winay Wayna (which translates as 'forever young', something we definitely didn't feel by the end of the day!) - it looked miles away and still a lot higher than we were at that point. We arrived at Winay Wayna after another hour or so, and lots and lots of steps. The views back over the valley and the river were fantastic. We had a look around the ruins and a walk around the terraces then continued - the scenery changed quite dramatically to waterfalls and rainforest. We continued the walk, Valerio pointed out lots of orchids, birds and some fungi, then at about 3.30pm we reached Intipunku, also known as the Sun Gate and our first view of Machu Picchu. I have to admit it wasn't the view that I was expecting as I thought the classic photograph that you always see of Machu Picchu was taken from Intipunku, but in actual fact we were still quite a way from Machu Picchu itself. However, it was still an amazing view and our first, long awaited glimpse of Machu Picchu. We sat for 15 minutes just taking in the view - I am pleased to say that after the first bit of rain when we got off the train, the weather has changed and it was a nice, sunny day (in fact too hot at some points). We had changed our plans so that we could walk the Inca Trail as late as possible as March is the end of the rainy season in this area and sometimes the trail can be very muddy and Machu Picchu shrouded in cloud.? I am very pleased that that decision seemed to have paid off. It then took another hour or so before we eventually reached Machu Picchu - when we did, a rainbow appeared in the distance making the view even more special as the Cusco flag is the colours of the rainbow so it seemed quite fitting and Valerio joked that he had ordered the rainbow especially for us! We were quite tired by this point but still managed to take lots of photos just in case the cloud took over before our main visit to the site in the morning. Sadly we were then whisked straight off on a bus down the very bendy hilly road to the local town, Aguas Calientes. Marie & I were tired out so when we checked into our hotel we just laid on our beds for half an hour but then had to drag ourselves in the shower before meeting Valerio and Carlos for dinner. During the day Valerio had said that it was guinea pig for dinner so Marie was quite pleased to find out thet he was joking!
Fri 23 March
We had a wake up call at 5.05am, early enough for us to meet Valerio and Carlos for breakfast then get back up to Machu Picchu for sunrise. We got to Machu Picchu at around 6.30am but unfortunately didn't see the sun rise over the mountains as it was quite cloudy. Valerio then took us on a three hour guided tour around the ruins. It is thought that it was a sort of sanctuary which the Quechua people used to travel to - it can only be reached by the several mountain paths which lead to the site. It is amazing to think that the site laid abandoned and uninhabited (and unknown about for a lot of that time) from about 1532 until it was discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. The ruins are made from dry stone walls, some of the blocks are enormous and it is still not really known how the people managed to move them to the top of a mountain! There were lots of llamas roaming around the site too - apparently they help keep the grass short...... I did think about bringing a few home in my suitcase to help control the grass in my garden too!? We walked around several temples, a residential area where people would have stayed when they visited the sanctuary, and the terraces used to grow fruit and vegetables. Valerio then left us and we had another couple of hours to continue exporing the ruins (along with a bit of sunbathing on the terraces as the sun soon came out again). We later got the bus back down to Aguas Calientes, the strange town at the bottom of the mountain, which survives purely on the tourism created by people visiting Machu Picchu. We had lunch then got the four hour train journey back to Cusco. We got chatting to a couple of Australian blokes on the train who invited us out in Cusco that night but we were just too tired! In fact we were even too tired to eat out so we settled for tuna and crisp sandwiches made on the bed back at our new hostel - very glamorous! Sadly we had changed hostels to a much inferior one (Hostel Recoleta - we definitely don't recommend this one despite all the good comments on www.hostelworld.com).
Sat 24 March
Got up for breakfast and spent an hour or so chatting to an English couple who asked us if we were from Birmingham (please kill us if we do have any hint of a brummie accent, uum, no offence to all you brummies out there!). Marie and I then spent the day meandering around the streets of Cusco, and also trying to book tours for our last few days in Peru. We were thinking of going white water rafting but couldn't find anything below Class III rafting - after seeing a video of Class III we wimped out and decided not to bother!
Sun 25 March
Marie & I went on a tour of the 'Sacred Valley' - we visited the Pisaq and Ollantaytambo Inca ruins and a few local markets. Unfortunately the market visits were a bit rushed otherwise I think we would have been able to fill our rucksacks with ponchos, paintings, and lovely silver jewellery. The ruin visits including a short walk over some quite exposed steps with some sheer drops which reminded me that I still don't like heights. However, again the ruins and the views made the walk worthwhile, even though it was far too hot to be walking up big hills and steps! It was a long day out - we got back to the hostel at about 7.30pm to find Ed already showered and in bed, looking exhausted after the four day trail. Most people we spoke to said the four day trail was hard work (of course Ed said it wasn't!) but I am sure it was amazing and I think it was one of Ed's highlights of the trip.
Mon 26 March
I can't believe it - our LAST full day of our travels. Ed went off on the Sacred Valley tour whilst Marie and I spent our last day shopping for souvenirs and presents in Cusco. I also spent some time on the internet finalising my plans for the final extension of my trip, a quick stopoff in Madrid. We were going to go to a cultural show but we ran out of time so we headed back to the hostel with a bottle of wine and waited for Ed to return. We then went out with some of the people who Ed had met on the Inca Trail - we had a few drinks in an Irish bar (they are everywhere!), a meal out, then danced our last night away in a local bar. It was a pretty cool end to the trip, dancing to bands such as The Killers and Franz Ferdinand until about 3.30am when we eventually dragged ourselves back to the hostel. There were no lights on in the corridor of the hostel and it was only after about ten minutes fumbling around in the dark that we realised that we'd been trying to get into the wrong room - oops!
Tues 27 March
7.30am alarm clock - we were all a bit worse for wear and not looking forward to the long journey ahead. Our last day was just a day of hanging around at airports. Luckily LAN airline offered to put Ed & I on the earlier Cusco to Lima flight that Marie was booked on so that saved a few hours at Cusco airport, but we still had a very boring eight hours at Lima. Marie was on a different flight back to the UK so we said goodbye to her and wished her luck in getting back on time and with her bag! Our flight from Lima to Madrid was then an hour late setting off (9pm) - we'd heard some bad stories about Iberia airlines but to be honest apart from the plane looking quite old (nice brown seats) and the late departure, we couldn't really fault it and we both even managed to get some sleep.
Wed 28 March
We eventually arrived in Madrid at 4pm local time. After six months of spending almost 24 hours a day together (without killing each other I'm pleased to say!), Ed & I said our goodbyes as he headed back to Heathrow. I couldn't resist a £27 flight back to East Midlands so had e-mailed my boss and asked for another week off. After collecting my bags and hire car I then set off on my own mini-adventure in Madrid (along with a 200 mile drive to Portugal!).
It has been an absolutely amazing six months. I think a lot of people thought we had tried to fit too much into six months - it was difficult choosing the places we wanted to visit, but with only having six months I think we definitely packed in as much as we could. The tours with Intrepid Travel definitely ensured that we made the most of our time in India and China - there is no way we would have seen and experienced as much without them organising the transport and hotels for us. I would really recommend Intrepid to anyone wanting to see a lot in a short time, or anyone nervous of travelling by themselves. The only change to our original plan was a trip to Melbourne instead of travelling from Sydney to Brsibane - in hindsight I think we definitely made the right choice, oh and then there was the fact that I didn't quite make it back on the final flight from Madrid to Heathrow!
We have visited so many spectacular places and met so many fabulous people - I could have easily carried on travelling if work, money etc. had permitted. I have so many memories and photos (uum, thousands of photos in fact!) to make sure that I will never forget. But unfortunately the sensible things in life were waiting back at home for us (jobs, houses, mortgages etc.) so we couldn't put off coming home for any longer but hopefully this won't be the end to our travels. The world is a very big place and we have only just touched the tip of the iceberg!
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