Las Casitas del Arco Iris Urubamba

Having worked in some of the UKs greatest places: Wythenshawe, Kings Lynn, Woking, Newport Pagnall, Chesterfield, Caerphilly and Crewe all being particular highlights it is nice to enjoy the fruits of my labours every now and then.

My visit to Machu Picchu was always going to be fraught with high expectation but I am pleased to report that largely it did not disappoint. Following some wranglings with some friends about whether ...

The bus from La Paz to Cusco was again
full of locals....We arrived in Cusco early in the
morning before 6am and checked into the loki hostel though they we
had not booked they had some rooms for us but not for quite a few
hours. breakfast luckily started at 6:30 so it gave us something to
do, they even had a big bowl of coca leaves to assist with altitude
sickness.

That day we booked our trip to Matchu
Pitchu, it meant being picked up in a taxi the next ...

Finally, the last installment of our Peruvian adventure. Elaine and Gary arrived in Cusco on Nov 2 with bronchitis and upper respiratory ailments and were a little uncertain if they were going to meet up with us during trek. We had a pre-trek meeting on Nov 2 with the tour operator, Yure Chavez of Perutrek4good. We were finally able to unload the rest of the cash we had been carrying for the balance of our trek(again, strangely, no credit ...

... I had been deprived of a hot shower, a proper clean and good scrub for 5 days, it was great, I loved it, it felt good, I don't think I can say much more than that, you can imagine how good warm water feels on the skin after a few days, pure joy, pure bliss.

The day came to an end fairly early, after our free time we had a meal and headed to bed, tomorrow is Machu Picchu, something we had all been waiting for, the final part of our trek and an end to a huge personal journey.

... br>
Papa a la Huancaina - this is a traditional appetizer made of potatoes with a yellow cheese sauce on top. The sauce is yellow from the yellow chilis that are in it, so it can be spicy or not spicy depending on how many of the seeds you leave in. We like it spicy, so lots of seeds please! Delicious!

Aji de Gallina - An entree with shredded chicken in another yellow chili sauce. Not the same as the huncaina sauce though. It has onions, garlic, milk, bread ...

Amy and I are in Peru! The last couple of days have been long, tiring, and boring for the most part, but we are finally in our first main destination and will be here for the next four days. Our hotel (more like a house of our own) has a computer with internet, so hopefully updates will be steady for the next few days.

I should probably go over our journey to get to this point first. We left SFO Thursday night around 1am and arrived in San Salvador about 5 ...

... stunned. Ollantaytambo was about five times the size of Pisac and absolutely breathtaking! The entire mountainside was covered with terraces (for farming) and temples and huts sat at the top of the mountain, challenging us to yet another crazy uphill hike. The first part of the climb wasnīt so bad - that was over some pretty basic steps. When we got to the top of the steps, we walked along a narrow rocky path toward the hut that we saw from the ...

... line. It was still raining but everyone was anxious and excited because we were all here for the same reason. We were all here to make a run for it, a run to the Wayna Picchu's gate in order to part of the first 400 people per day allowed to sign in.

The first bus out came exactly at 5:30AM which we boarded and then off we went, up and up the zigzagging road, way up to Machu Picchu. After 30 minutes, we were finally ...

... incapable of properly promoting their touristic appeal, that is the Colonial legacy. He wished for a time machine so we could re-gain what has been lost. This gave me ample opportunity to promote my new cause, Amazonia, and how we don't need a time machine to try to save all that is being lost. As we made our way down steps the Incas built into the terrace walls to the centre of the depression, we managed to get in some Bush-bashing. Got to do it ...

... custom is monitored or enforced, but this knowledge may be revealed (pun intended) on New Years Eve, which marks the peak of the yellow undie wearing season. On second thoughts, I might just go to bed early that night . . . there are some things I donīt need to know! Perhaps the hardest part of being in Peru is, for me, the way that meat is marketed in this country. People who eat the stuff buy it from open-air market stalls ...