Neilandamy's travel blogs:
|
|
  | |  |
Christmas in another world
Entry 93 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
After the worst journey in the world ever....we arrived in Cusco. Should have been there mid morning....but ended up being mid afternoon. God were we glad to arrive and get off the bus, after being delayed for 3 hours because of a landslide in the middle of the night and then another hour because a truck had tipped over and its load was all over the road..... feeling sick most of the way, not that we were alone...the whole bus was ill....had to feel sorry for the poor conductor who had been working for like 24 hours and had to deal with bags of sick and ill complaining passengers! It was certainly our worst journey to date.....but then traveling straight across the Andeas at like 3000m...we should have expected it really!
Arrived in Cusco....and were a little shocked....looked gloomy and not at all inviting....but it just shows how you shouldnt judge a book by its cover! We got a taxi to the main hostel....cause we had arrived a day early and didnt even know if we would have a bed for the night!! Fortunately there was noone in our room...so we were sorted. The place we were staying was pretty, small and cute and very nicely decorated....only fault was we had made a mistake in booking a double room, not a matrimonial...which means twin beds....not a double!! On arrival we were given Coca tea, which is apparantly the thing to drink here....its supposed to be good for altitude sickness, was quite pleasant, could get to like the stuff. I wasnt in the best of moods having had very little sleep and not being impressed with where we were going to spend christmas and to top it all off it started to pour down!!
So we donned our waterproofs and braved the rain...had to find out why everyone had recommended this place. Got very wet....and a little lost....but then we found the main square...and it actually looked quite nice even in the rain. Neil then cheered me up by taking me to a cafe for hot chocolate and chocolate cake!! Found numerous cool looking places to eat and drink....including the Cross keys...an english bar. Were feeling a little better about the place....
Headed back to the hostel.....didnt stay there too long...neil was itching for a beer....we had seen a place advertising english christmas dinner, so headed there for a beer first....were we met an english woman....who loved the place! Had a beer, chatted a little....found out about the christmas dinner...which was an extortionate $45....but were tempted....and then headed for the cross keys. Now we were hoping for some english beer of some description...but were very shocked to be offered draught Greene King beers and at only 1.50pound a pint!!! I enjoyed a Old Speckled, Neil an Abbot...damn was it good...why these people insist on drinking only lager i will never understand. Decided to have food too...wasnt the most amazing menu in the world....but good pub grub. Neil had an english breakfast...which wasnt quite the same as you would get in england...but it was pretty close! I enjoyed a lovely chicken curry....an english tasting curry. mmmm.....decided to go book a tour for tomorrow and then come back for more beer....but after booking the tour....decided the beer had gone to our head enough, and as it had been a very long day....we headed to bed. Was bloody cold. Surprisingly cold......woolly hat kind of cold!!!!
The next day we were off to explore the Sacred Valley... was an early morning....we didnt mind too much.....but we had to get the cook out of bed to get our breakfast! Was a pleasant breakfast too....then we headed down to the square to get our bus.....after the bus had driven round the square several million times....trying to fill all its seats...we set off.
Was a very pleasant drive through the mounatins passing several ruins along the way....including `sexy woman` which we will save for another day! Climbed to over 3700meters with amazing views before dropping to our first stop of the day....Pisac town. There we explored a lovely little tourist market....where we were conned into buying a beautiful piece of designed alpaca wool....we are such suckers....but how can you be expected to resist this stuff is sooo beautiful! Back on the bus and a short drive up the mountainside to our first inca ruin.....the ruins of Pisac....was very worried when i saw how steep the paths were! Me and hiking at altitude just dont mix! Fortunately we didnt take the steepest paths....but they were steep enough. Our guide was pretty cool.....not the most entertaining but very informative ....in that he never shut up!! The hike was still pretty tough....but i survived...did make me a little apprehensive to say the least about doing the inca trail in a few days.....but hopefully we will be acclimatised by then. The inca sites are pretty impressive.....not ornate.....or enormous like the aztecs and mayan sites, but because they build them in such insane locations....on the edge of huge mountains...the terraces they used for agriculture are amazing....and as solid today as they must have been the day they were built. They sure were clever people....well either that or completely insane! We continued upwards....always upwards in the Andeas our guide told us....to the main and most important part of the site....there are four main parts....we were at the religious area. The buildings were amazing....built of enormous pieces of stone...all perfectly fitted together with no mortar or anything....and they are still standing! He explained what little they know about all the building, then we got to explore....they are impressive in their simplicity.
Then it was back to the bus....the walk back wasnt quite so tough....but still hard enough....everything at altitude is. We then drove about an hour along the ollantaytambo valley...better known as the sacred valley....cause it was such an important area for the incas....mainly for its fertility. I fell asleep...the hike had killed me!! We then arrived in the town called Urubumba for lunch. Was a good lunch....a buffet of local food....including goat and alpaca and some very strong tasting fish....was very good....we even enjoyed peruvian music while we ate...something that is very common out here....problem is though they all want a tip! After lunch we headed to Ollantaytambo where there was another inca sight. The whole town was inca with little streets with drainage and water coming in from the mountains. The ruins themself were an impressive looking fortress built into the hillsides. The terraces were huge and ames really didnt wanna climb up them.....she is silly. They were pretty big and it was quite a hike to the top where there was a temple on the top flanked by six enormous stones, each one weighing in excess of 300 tonnes. The views looking back down the valley were amazing and you could really understand why the incas were in awe of the mountain gods. Unbelievable to believe they constructed all these amazing places with out even the wheel. On the way back we visited a church in another Inca town. They look great but there all built into the hillside so a nightmare to walk around. Decided to eat in the place we´d seen the xmas dinner advertised to see if it was worth the money. We had a beer whilst we made our mind up. I decided to give alpaca a second chance and it was out of this world. Ames had chicken with a fruity sauce, including strawberries which she loves. The decision waas made and we were gonna go there for xmas, after all it is christmas. We finished the day in the Cross Keys for more english ale watching them set the square up for the following days Santuranticuy!
The next day was christmas eve so we decided it was ok for us to splurge a little. So it was a day of eating drinking and exploring the enormous market in the square. The square was packed with over a thousand little stalls selling everything from grass to chess sets! High above the square the rainbow striped flag of Cusco was flying and festive music was being piped out fo all to hear. We´d also decided that shopping was acceptable for the day so explored the christmas market and the many permanent artisan ones around town. I brought ames some silly rainbowed wooly socks and she brought me a whole bag of goodies. A chess set, yatzee game, llama hat, a painting........even had my shoes cleaned! Was a really cool day finishing with a couple of drinks with an american we´d met in Quito and a hostel christmas dinner complete with tribal andean music.
The following day was christmas so I gave ames her silly wooly socks and after a leisurely get up we headed out for the day. Ames wanted hot chocolate so we treated ourselves, and then treated ourselves to some amazing soup in a local cafe. Then we treated ourselves to beer and just chilled out. The christmas dinner started at 5 so not wanting to appear to eager we hung around in our hotel room till 5.30 and then headed over. We were greeted with a glasss of mulled wine which was surprisingly good, and sat down and waited in anticipation for our food. Turned out there were only seven of us for dinner. Not our ideal type of company but far better than celebrating christmas alone. After a couple of glasses of the mulled wine it was time for the main event. The bottles of wine were produced, a whole bottle each which is loads when you´re at 3400m altitude! Then the food started coming..... and boy did it come..... There was loads of it, plates of salad, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, turkey, apple sauce, stir fry, cauliflower cheese, creamed sweet potato and orange. There was so much food, between the seven of us we got through most of it including 4 huge plates of juicy turkey. We couldnt manage the pudding, even after an hours break we could only manage the ice cream which was delicious, though it did seem a waste to leave the apple strudel there just was no room left. We left the other five to there weird depressive conversations having had a very enjoyable christmas!
The following day was boxing day, we needed to get some stuff sorted as we were doing the 2 day Inca trail the following day, but still it was still christmas in my book so still plenty of time to splurge. In the afternoon we´d got a city tour planned so spoilt the morning away with a full english complete with beans and sausage, and then more hot chocolate and beer!!! Unfortunately it decided it was gonna rain all day. The city tour was a bit of a disappointment, as interesting as it is to see more inca sites, they werent that amazing and were some what spolit by the twenty tour buses all doing the sites at the same time. We ended the day with a simple sausage buttie and a beer after are briefing for the following day.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by neilandamy, from Peru or try a new search. |
| |
| Table of Contents |
| 93. | Christmas in another world - Cusco, Peru Dec 22, 2006 |
|
|
|
|
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
27 votes 
This is a top pick!
