Cusco... and Macchu Picchu
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2006
1
49
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Trip End
Jun 15, 2007
Cusco,
Peru
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Cusco
01 Two churches ones Sarah, main square Cusco
is a cool town with loads and loads of old buildings. Some of the current buildings are actually built upon the old Inca buildings and you can see the old Inca stonework... amazing!
Cusco is definitely one of the most touristy towns that we´ve been to... but as we always say... "there´s always a reason a place is touristy". The locals are only delighted to try and make some money off the rich tourists... like dressing up in the traditional gear, and then pouncing on the tourist for a picture... then they ask for money from the tourist. An ingenious way to earn a crust alright... but somehow or other I don´t think the rich Americans who visit Blarney and Bunratty would be too keen on being hustled for a photo by a big, burly, red bearded fisherman from the Aran Islands.
Cusco is also cold.... its the first place that we actually HAD to have a heater in the room. On the plus side... we had our cheapest day EVER since leaving home. On one day in particular we spent only €14.00... that included our accommodation (room with private bathroom and cable TV), breakfast, lunch and dinner... you can´t beat eating from food
stalls you know!!!
So.... Macchu Picchu... (once again... click here for the history)
Well..... the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (the town next to Macchu Picchu) took 4 hours and cost a whopping US$73 return. As we got near our destination the skies opened and it began pouring rain. We took this opportunity to grab a coffee and watch all the tourists scurry around the place trying to buy themselves rain ponchos (they´d have been better off with a giant Dunnes Stores plastic bag, the quality of the rain ponchos was so bad). We also had to buy our entrance tickets to Macchu Picchu in this town... cost us US$25 each!!!! We then had to fork out another US$12 each to get a bus from the town up the mountain to the entrance gate of Perus biggest tourist attraction. So thats a total of US$110 each... and we haven´t even seen a friggin llama not to mind the Lost City of the Incas
43 The postcard pic.... awesome!
The drive up was absolutely amazing, sheer vertical drops and spectacular scenery, even though the mist/rain did hinder the view slightly. We entered the Sacred City of the Incas and were greeted by mist, mist and more mist. However, we could make out the city and the terraces they used for growing crops. The rain then started again as we explored the ruins... so we had Mike in his yellow Big Bird outfit and Sarah in her green Chameleon Camouflage rigout wandering around in awe at what those Inca folks built high up in the Andes all those years ago.
48 Watch out Sars.. Llamas eat human hair you know
Aaahhh... the rain!!! We said a little prayer for the rain to feck off... and sure enough.. it did!As it happened we were near the highest point in the city... the place where all those postcard photos are taken from. We were sitting there, contemplating life when... ABRACADABRA... the mist rises up and disappears into the heavens... leaving us with a perfect view of this amazing place.
Words cannot describe the feeling you get when you are staring at this ancient sacred city, not on a postcard, but right there in front of you. Of all the ruins we´ve ever been to... from Newgrange in Ireland to the Colosseum in Rome to the Mayan ruins in Guatemala... there is NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can compare to this awesome city hidden away in the middle of the Andes Mountains. As for the US$110 we had to pay to see the place... by golly... we´d have paid double!!!!!
The pictures tell a gizillion words!!!!!!! (Is gizzillion a word ??)
