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And so finally to Inca territory. The last 4 days have been spent visiting the well known Inca sites ; Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Machupicchu and here in Cuzco. We've been given rather a lot of information at every site which of course I won't try to pass on to you but which has been fascinating. Our guide was keen to impress upon us from the beginning that there was more to the Inca sites and Peru than Machu. P. Other sites,he pointed out, were much larger,others just as archeologically interesting and so forth. However when we saw it eventually I was still hugely impressed. The position high up on the mountain top surrounded by cloud really is a stunner. With a bit of a climb you can get above the site and look down onto it which gives you a superb birds eye view. In this position the clouds drift around beneath you all the time, sometimes making the site look a bit ghostly and eery and then every so often it clears and a bit of sun gets through and it looks like a paradise in the mountains. That's what makes it so special and different from the rest. The effort for them to get up that mountainside (chosen so to be near their Sun God) and the enormity of the work to create the site beggars belief. Anyway for you Tom this is not news but it is for Es and some others. You will love visiting here one day Esme. However I have to say getting up there is extremely scarey. Never mind the Incas, spare a thought for the poor tourist, we took a half hour bus journey up that mountain side and it was horrendous! I'm sure you've all seen a pic. of the mountain so perhaps you can imagine it. Dirt track, sharp bends, buses coming in the opposite direction and a sheer unprotected drop of up to 2000 feet. We also encountered a landslide on the way. In Peru they say you're an adult, your choice. For the tourists they also impress upon you how good the drivers are. And they are, thank God. But not something I'd like to do again.
The other sites were also well worth seeing and in themselves worth the visit here.
Cuzco,from where I'm writing this, has the wonderful site of Sacsayhuman, which we visited today, and a delightful, colonial town square where we spent this afternoon. The Spanish settled themselves in here in about .....and their influence is much in evidence in the architecture. We visited the Cathedral on the square and saw inside some lovely paintings by local indigenous Indians taught by the Spanish masters who came here and which were very impressive. There's also a Jesuit church in the square. The whole square stands rather beautifully with balconied buildings and the two churches at opposite ends and lots of little shops and cafes. A great place to while away an hour or two. Our hotel is also very comfortable and if I can give your father a poke (he's sleeping) we'll be off to supper now.
A couple of things Mum missed out. Before we took the bus ride we had to get up at 5.40 to take a train. Half way while in a canyon, a ten ton granite rock rolled onto the track just minutes before and the driver had to do a sharp halt. Then an hour plus while a team with sledge hammers and crowbars break it up.
Also added a few photos of the Inca bridge. Luckily you are not allowed to cross it, a couple of planks with a 1000 ft drop. The path to it was bad enough just a few feet wide in places and certainly no health and safety inspector involved.
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