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Cusco and Machu Picchu (Wed 22nd - Sun 26th October)
Cusco is 3,400 metres above sea level and at this attitude it takes a few days to acclimatise. You can have some difficulty breathing properly, get mild headaches and you have less energy than normal - walking and climbing uphill is particularly knackering. We both suffered from these effects but fortunately nothing so serious as altitude sickness. I also managed to get a stomach bug which laid me low for a couple of days so all in all not a great week health wise.
Now on to the more positive stuff. We arrived in Cusco after a pleasant one hour flight over the Andes from Lima. We were staying in a hostal (Ninos Dos) which is run as a charity for homeless children. Staff were very helpful but it was in a rough part of town and we always got a taxi back in the evening to avoid any possible trouble.
One day we took a trip (partly on horseback) to the nearby national park SAQSAYWAMAN (pronounced sexy woman)to see Inca archaeological ruins. Sounds boring but in fact was fascinating to see the temple and other buildings - The Incas revered 3 animals the snake, puma and condor and immortalised them by incorporating their shape into the brick walls. See photos and identify the animals including a llama ( hidden in the walls !!) and the views of Cusco were superb. However when a tour company say that your guide speaks English take that with a pinch of salt. It may be English but not as we know it. Our guide was no exception and it was tiring trying to work out what he was saying half the time. All in all however it was a good day.
You can find any kind of food in Cusco.The national dishes seem to be alpaca and guinea pig - I tried alpaca - very nice similar to veal ? but we gave the pig a body-swerve. Plenty of restaurants but according to a Peruvian couple we met from Lima theyare 1 star compared to Lima's 5 star. Probably a slight exageration but not much.
Our final day was a trip to Machu Picchu. It took 4 hours on a slow train plus a 30 minute bus ride to reach the top. It was literally breathtaking as we puffed our way through the site. As usual we were inappropriately dressed. After the previous day we went with many layers of clothing but it turned out to be shorts and tee-shirt weather. I got sunburned and bitten by mosquitos and still felt groggy after my stomach bug. However i'm not complaining - it is a fabulous place to visit and I'm glad we eventually made it. Unfortunately we could only stay a couple of hours - not really long enough - as we had to do the return journey back to Cusco
Cusco is a great place to stay with lots of things to do and a good base to visit Machu Picchu but it would have been better to have stayed in the centre and because of the issues mentioned earlier my views of the place are not as positive as they should be.
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