OK guys, I apologise for this being such a late update but I have tried twice to update the log and twice the net has crashed on me so gave up in the States trying, particularly given internet access difficult to find unless you need a wireless connection for laptop or are prepared to pay extortionate fees! So I see in New Zealand at 10.15pm typing my update!
Cuzco is a town full of life. You can always find a party here, but alas Andy and I did not enough time to leave our mark (or our sick!) in this upbeat town. It’s also really beautiful, with many of the streets housing buildings whose foundations were made from stones pillaged from the neighbouring Inca heritage site of Saqsaywaman (aka “sexy woman”) many moons ago. We visited this sexy woman on our first day in Peru. When all other travellers are getting used to the altitude by taking it easy, Andy and I hiked up to the site, stopping regularly to catch our breath in the thin air (Cuzco is approx 3390 metres above sea level). The locals have lungs much bigger than us weak western folk, demonstrated quite clearly when a local chap jogged passed us up the hill on his morning run!! Sexy woman is a temple, which forms the head of a puma with Cuzco forming the body. Its was awesome, a true engineering feat of genius. The monolithic blocks with huge yet so finely cut and fitted into the temple with such precision.
Macchu Picchu was incredible. We took the morning train for about 3 hours or so from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (a small town at the base of the mountain, which houses Macchu Picchu). The journey took us through rolling valleys and great mountains and waterfalls as well as through towns where local folk waved us on with a smile (and a few wares for our perusal!). We spent two days there. You get to the site via mini bus, which takes about 15 minutes up a steep zig zag road. The first day, we were afforded a magical fog over the site with the second day being glorious sunshine. It was good to see the two personalities of this place – the mysterious and spiritual, and the majestic glow. It’s a very moving place. Not only because of the site, which is an incredible achievement for the Incans, but also because of the setting, which in its own right takes your breath away. There is something here than moves your spirit. We hiked up Wayna Picchu, a peak overlooking Macchu Picchu. Well actually, we did have the hike before deciding to go down a less than walked trail to the Grand Cavern. It was a spectacular reward to see such a lush cavern of trees with the Incan temple of the moon overlooking, but we were seriously doubting we had taking a tourist path and that we might be lost or damaged for ever as we scaled some pretty hairy pathways above steep ravines and down through bushy forest!!
Nazca was quite unique and a real wonder – why and how had the ancients drawn these huge mathematically accurate images in the desert sand, that could only be seen from above? There are lots of theories so feel free to speculate, we did a lot of that when we took flight in our little 4 man cesna plane to see the “lines” (a collective name for all of the drawings).
We went to visit a cemetery in Nazca also, a very weird place and made you feel somewhat closer to the civilisation that once lived here. The mummies were quite well preserved, many with their hair and nails intact! It was eerie, their eyes looked to follow you around for sure!!
Our bus trip to Nazca was an experience! 14 hours on a bus, comfortable but treacherous as the driver threw us around some steep sharp bends on a double decker! We held on to the bus and each other all night! Andy had a little episode in the toilet, which I must tell you about. You are not allowed to poo in the loo, but Andy did not see the sign so let his little brown fellas go! When he did read the sign, he felt like he needed to liberate his fallen soldiers from the bog, rather than have them block the lav for everyone else on the bus (how considerate!). So, what did he do when they would not flush? He picked them up one by one using tissue and then threw them out of the window on favourable bends (so the first class passengers wouldn’t have kamikaze poos on their windows!). We laughed and laughed for a very long time when 15 minutes later, Andy emerged from the toilet with luminous green fingers from the cleaning fluid! Only Andy – you gotta love him!!
Peru was awesome, a truly inspiring place. If you want to be touched by a culture and feel an overwhelming need to stay longer, or at the very least return as soon as you can, then Peru is for you. The country is stunning, and the people are incredible. Certainly in Southern Peru, they lead very hard lives, yet have the most fearsome spirit to survive. It puts your own worries in perspective when you see how these people find a way to live in the most meagre of conditions. You are badgered regularly to buy goods or to have a picture with a llama, but the trick is not to get annoyed and remember that these guys need your pennies to feed their families.
