by Richard

Map Source: Peru Frommers Guide

Our second destination in Peru was Cusco up in the hills situated at a height of 3400m, which mean’t re-acclimatising to altitude once again.

As the coach wound it’s way up into the mountains, the clouds gave way to magnificent views.

Just walking around the city centre it was hard to breath and we could feel the moisture being sucked out of our mouths as we panted for air.

Hot sun scorched days and very cold nights are the way of things up in these high altitude South American cities, and we were glad of the portable heater in our hostel room and our fleeces, hats and gloves. It is worth lugging a 20kg pack around the world with all these necessities.

We would spend a few days acclimatising in Cusco before joining a biking/hiking expedition to the fabled ruins of Machu Picchu. There were plenty of museums to be explored and the walls of the great Sachsayhuaman (pronounced “sexy woman” if you are Austin Powers) fortress above the city.

Right: Kate poses with an Inca

 

Left: An impressive Spanish church Santa Domingo built over the top of an Inca Temple.

The locals say, (with good reason)  that Inca walls were built to last five thousand years, Spanish walls 500 years and moderns building are lucky to last 50 years.

 

Inca museums full of interesting things like the bola weapon which wraps around llama legs when thrown to capture them alive, or the Inca abacus of different coloured strings with knots in them.

 

Above: Plaza de Armas square in Cusco

Below: Any excuse for a carnival

 

 

I succumb to purchasing another lucky bracelet to join the one from Bolivia, although I sense the little girl is somewhat a feared of me!

 

Above: Naturally smooth grooves in the rock carved out by ancient glaciers have been used as a slide for children (and Richard) for hundreds of years.

The remaining walls of the Sachsayhuaman Fortress where the Incas took their last unsuccessful stand (1536) against their Spanish conquerers led by Juan Pizarro in the city Cusco below them.

Some of the stones are pretty heavy (300tons), I can tell you!

 

 

The Bike and Hike

to Machu Picchu

One of the wonders of the world are the ruins of the Inca city Machu Piccu, a city which served as religious centre and fortified retreat for the Inca Rulers and Priests. Every year thousands of hikers endure a gruelling 4 day march up and down the ridges from Cusco to the lost city. It requires a lot of training and a few days to acclimatise to the altitude by eating very light meals of mostly soup before you attempt it.

We had heard that these days the classic Inca trail is a motorway of hikers and each campsite abounds with 40 or more tents. This took away some of the appeal and so we jumped at the chance of an alternative 3 day trek, whereby the first day comprised of downhill mountain biking.

 

Michel, the charming  local guide for PIE Peru soon had us whizzing down the bleak high mountains at 4000m and then fighting with the handlebars for many more kilometres of very bumpy gravel roads to the little village Santa Maria for our overnight stay.

The hike the next day was pretty tough going and I felt my lungs rasping as I struggled with every breath up the steep paths. We stopped to paint our faces with the orange berries of a natural mosquito repellent.

At a welcome pit stop we met this rather large rodent chap and amused ourselves at his corn nibbling, juice drinking antics.

 

The paths soon levelled out to my relief, but much to Kate’s horror as the narrow steps and ledges plummeted straight into the ravine below us.

The narrow river raced past in the valley revealing many impassable rapids and clearly showing how few routes were actually possible to get to the hidden city of Machu Picchu.

A lunchtime rest amongst the trees offered respite for jangled nerves…..

…..before we marched on deeper into the valley and finally crossed a bridge to our hostel destination at Santa Teresa.

In the evening we crossed the river again to reach the thermal spa….but this time it was by means of a small wooden tray hauled across the river on a rope. Excellent!

 

Graham and Sonia assist everyone across the river. He might stay in S.America to teach English…….. so if you meet any Peruvian’s with Geordie accents they might be his pupils!

Some old rope and rusty iron loops. Good old fashioned fun.

Don’t look down!

A lovely evening soaking in the outdoor hot springs was topped off by dinner and “Cuba Libres” around the camp fire back at the hostel.

Obviously our trip had been going far too smoothly and so I awoke in the middle of the night with nausea, loss of feeling in my arms and hands, stomach cramps and felt bloody awful.

In the morning I was still faint, nauseas and suffering from pains in my chest. Kate accompanied me to the village doctor as the others carried on with the second day hike to Machu Picchu.

The doc was friendly enough, and from what we could understand in Spanish was that he diagnosed me with a parasitic infection and inflammation of the gut as well as inflammation of the thorax muscles which was giving me the tight chest and loss of feeling in my limbs. Armed with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, we slept the rest of the day and met up with our exhausted friends at the final train to Machu Picchu. Little did I know that the Sulfametoxazol 800mg + Trimetoprimo 160mg antibiotics which he gave to me were not appropriate to deal with parasites!

The next morning Kate and I caught the train up at 7am. Our group had gone  up at 4am in order to queue for a ticket for climbing the higher point of Waynu Picchu. Just utter crazy demand and supply in the tourist industry.

We met up with them and Michel for a guided tour of the ruins.

 

Machu Picchu was as memorable as I had seen it 5 years previously. Breathtakingly nestled amongst the peaks of the Andes at 2400m it was discovered by the explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. Built in the mid 1400s it was never discovered by the Spanish Conquistadors, although it was abandoned probably due to drying up of mountain springs and therefore no water source for crops and drinking.

The stonework is incredible and the sheer drops off every side of the city make it a truly impenetrable fortress.

 

Temple of the sun and leaning against the main city gate.

  

Sacred rock carved to match the outline of the sacred mountains behind.

 

Steep stairways and drops at every turn. Watch out Kate!…not bad for Little Miss Vertigo.

Now you can’t blame the Inca chappies for wanting to live up here with such lovely views.

At the end of each day the Llamas make their way up to higher terraces and look down on Machu Picchu as they settle down for the night.