After several days in Cusco, getting used to the altitude (3000 mts), breathless just walking up the slightest slope, let alone the hill we have to climb up to get to our digs, (it is worth it though for the views!)we keep drinking the coca leaf tea, which is suppose to help with altitude sickness, we are feeling fine.
We have our trip to Machu Picchu booked, this is the highlight of our trip, so we are really looking forward to it. We travel by car, bus and train to get to Aguas Calientes, the village you stay at the night before the big day! We have to be up
and in reception by 6 a.m. Our hotel is right on the river and is extremely noisy, don't because of rowdy guests, but the force of the river, another night of no sleep!
We get the the base of M.P. at 7 a.m. The weather is cloudy, but dry. We should have a guide to meet us and another young man called Gideon from London. We wait until 7.30 he still hasn't appeared! All the time we are stood waiting for him, hundreds of people are entering, we are getting a little pissed off by this time and go in by ourselves! It is just as you would imagine to be, from what you see on telly and read about. The sun breaks through and it is really quite breath-taking! I can't really describe to you what it is like, you will just have to see the pictures. Half way around our guide spots Gideon, who he has met once before, so we finish the rest of the site we him. It was a shame we didn't do the whole tour with him, because he was
very knowledgeable and it was good to hear all of the story's and legends that go with the history of the site. (It was discovered until the early 1900's).
We have a couple more nights in Cusco (because we can!) before moving onto Puno, towards the Bolivian border.
Puno, which is on Lake Titicaca, is an absolute dump, we hate it! Theresa has travelled with us and we all go out for an early supper. Thank God we did, we all said that it did not have a good feel to it, we wouldn't have wanted to be out after dark!
We do the 'tourist' boat trip to the floating islands of Uros, these are reed islands, where some 3000 people still live. Unfortunately, it all felt like the locals were acting for us! They were all in their brightly coloured clothing, sitting doing their sewing, crafts and such like and the guide was telling us how the men would be out hunting and fishing etc. You got to see inside their houses (if you crossed their palm with silver!) and then as soon as they think you are not looking, they are all on their mobile phones and eating pre-packed food and all of the ladies were overweight!!
Another bus journey to take us on to Bolivia, awaits!
The one thing I do enjoy about our travels, is seeing all the scenery and all the day to day life of real people that you see. Their tradition dress that they wear, the hats, the way they still farm with cattle, the way they carry their children tied around them, it makes you realise how easy we have it in the UK!
(My apology's to all the teachers etc. who will be cursing my grammar and spelling!)
