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Mell's Travels
Have had a very busy past few days - i will try and condense it down! Day 1 - Visited saqsaywaman where we have seen some inca sites. Our guide Julio knows absolutely everything about inca history. Then went to a place called Quenco which is much higher than cusco so we all got out of breath easily. Then on to a small community where we seen how the women made the wool from the llamas. very cute llamas there to feed! Then finally on to a town called Pisac which was really nice. We visited the sacred valley and saw the cemetary in the rock face where the Incas would have been buried.
Day 2 - Drove to a town called Calca where we went to the local bakery which cooked the bread on open fire. bought lots of bread for the local kids. Had to drive really high into the mountains to get to Lares pass - it is 4100m above sea level so there was a lot of altitude sickness. Our heads were literally in the clouds and it was so peaceful walking through the mountains with only the sound of our guide Julio playing his andean flute tunes! We then went to a local school where the kids sang us some quechan songs and we gave them bread and presents. After that it was off to the camp site in Lares next to the hot springs - had a very relaxing afternoon just recuperating from my mountain trek in the 40 degree spring pool. Whilst waiting for dinner to be cooked, a local shamen came and performed a ceremony to pachamama (mother earth) he unwrapped lots of little packages and placed them carefully in a specific order whilst praying to the pachamama. Each thing symbolized something different, e.g. for good weather, agriculture etc. Once he had unwrapped all the packages he then bundled up the package and placed it into the middle of the camp fire and made another prayer. We hoped that the good weather prayer was going to work as it was absolutely freezing!!
Day 3 - Woke up to a local porter knocking on my tent with a cup of hot tea - which is exactly what i needed as i was very surprised i hadn't got hypothermia after my night in the freezing sleeping bag!!There was a huge breakfast prepared for us and we then set off to a couple of villages called cuncani and wacawasi. The local kids were fascinated by the digital cameras and they would happily pose for you and then run and see themselves in the camera. We then headed back to Urubamba where we tried to find a pizzeria but ended up in an incan mcdonalds!!!
Day 4 - Visited a place called Moray where which was another incan ruin site - again it was very peaceful and the only sound echoing around was Julio's flute. We then went on to the salt mines where there was about 500 mines which belonged to the local families. Then on to a place where they brewed the local beer'- very bitter and tasted like straw! Back on bus to Ollantaytambo which was a really nice village with lots of little pretty streets. From here we took the train up to Aguas Calientes which would be the start of our visit to Machu Picchu. The train was really comfortable and much better than anything in UK! The hotel in Aguas Calientes was nice but there was a problem with the water!
Day 5 - 4.30 start! cheated a bit and we got the bus up to Machu Picchu from the village. you would not believe the amount of people around at that time of morning! When we got to the entry point of Machu Picchu there was lots of cloud. However by the time we got our tickets and passports stamped it was starting to clear. Julio took us around some of the main inca sites and then a few of us went to climb Wayna Picchu - which i thought was the smaller mountain but ended up being over 2000m high! it was exhausting climbing up it, especially the parts where there was ropes to help you up as it was so steep. I made it to the first terrace which had amazing views of the whole site of Machu Picchu. You will be able to see them on my photos. I was so proud of myself that i had done it. They only allow 400 people per day to climb it and i was back down it by 9.25am!! Can you believe i climbed a mountain by that time!! I felt very smug coming down and seeing all the people puffing and panting on their way up. Once we got to the bottom we followed the sound of Julio's flute and found him at the temple of the condor. It was boiling by then and we had something to eat overlooking the site which you can see on this postcard. Then back to Aguas Calientes and onto the train back to Cusco.
In Cusco now having a relaxing day before i start the next part of my trip! it is exhausting stuff and i can't believe how much i have seen and done in just one week. Feels like i have been away for ages.
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