Catchup . Cusco, Machu Picchu

Ok, so im really far behind on this because ive had a bit of a bug and a reluctance to spend my time in an internet cafe...but now im here in Bolivia, about to tell you all about my time in Peru.

Colca Canyon
Up at 6am to drive to Colca Canyon. We stopped for photos and got harrased by children with llamas. From the road you can see the mountain that is the source of the Amazon...pretty impressive, it was covered in snow. We walked a track to the condor cross lookout. On the way i was asking the guide what the odds are for actually seeing any condors...then we saw about 5 circling about one hundred metres away. Their wingspan can be up to 2.5 metres. i was going to lie down on the ground and look like carion but i didnt in the end.. we walked a little further to one of the lookout points. The locals catch a condor (the shaman just sits on top of the hill until one lands near him, then he lunges i guess) then have a festival where they tie it to a bull and see who dies first. if the condor survives for long enough its set free. Sounds cruel. I remember seeing it on tv once.
The views of the canyon were spectacular, it was hugE!! Apparently its twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. As we sat and admired the view, a few condors flew past right infront of us. They had whit on the tops of their wings and then they dissappeared into the distance. Another one latter flew right over top of us. He was big, my camera battery ran out just as he was coming toward us.
We carried on the walk and ended at a small lookout that was full of tourists, and Baños. so that was nice. We drove a little up the road and had second breakfast consisting of avocado sandwich and boiled eggs. There was a white cow, with black spots that looked as though it were contemplating suicide... just stared out over the cliff.
Then we began our long busride back to Arequipa. I had a headache and couldnt sleep because the ride was so bumpy.

Once back in Arequipa we had big plans to go see Juanita, the mummy that was found in the mountains and so was perfectly preserved due to the cold. But it turns out shes only on show for half the year, and we were there at the wrong time. So instead we just hung out at the hotel .


The next day we got up at 5 for our flight to Cusco. All was well until we had an unexpectedly long stop in Puno on the stop over. We waited and waited and wanted breakfast...eventually we got some crackers and a coffee. I was bored and asked if i could have a tour of the cockpit and they said yes!!
So Natalie, Patty and i headed for the front. I asked Miguel all the questions i could about the gadgets and wore his hat. There was a light that said Fault. But he explained it was meant to say that.
We ended up having to fly back to Arequipa due to bad weather. I was upset because Cusco is the city i wanted to explore the most and felt like i didnt have enough time as it was.
We wandered around Arequipa in the afternoon, then went for dinner at a rooftop bar in the Plaza De Armas. The Cathedral looked incredible, all lit up and there was fountains and a halfmoon.
Terry ordered the guinea pig. It still had its little claws and teeth. We were given ponchos because it was so cold, they helped a lot, I just curled up in it.

The next day we fleew to Cusco! horay. We went shopping at the markets for warm clothes for the inca trail then i left the others and explored the streets. There is a street named Lorenzo that has the longest surviving Inca wall. I walked back and forth.
In the afternoon we planned to take the city tour. But i felt to unwell and ditched the team and went to bed.
The sickness kicked in and i was bedridden for the rest of the time in cusco .. the doctor came, he was wearing a leather jacket. The Farma delivered the drugs in depressing amounts.
The rest of the group left at 6am for the inca trail and i joined them for breakfast..

a few days later i caught the train to Agua Calientes, a small town at the bottom of Machu PIcchu. The Urubamba river runs right through it and my hotel was close so i slept listening to it. I went for a walk to find food, and ended up watching some construction workers pouring mud into the river. im not sure what they were trying to do, but one guy dropped his wheelbarrow and spent ages attempting to get it back up the steep incline. The handles were full of mud by the end of it all.

Caught i bus up the hill at 6am. The road was surrounded by all sorts of plants ive never seen before; vines, strange trees and big colourful flowers. I was super excited and wanted to be an explorer more than ever.

I then waited in the carpark for three hours until the others arrived from the trail. One of the girls on the tour had a stomach upset and one had a hip problem and everyone looked exhausted. ...Well, Claire looked full of energy still, as she usually does.
We walked into Machu Picchu and the sun was shinning and the grass looked greener than any grass ive seen before. We followed our guide up the terraces to a grassy patch where we learnt about the history and general things about Machu Picchu. We continued on to the fountains. theres 17 in total and they flow down from the Inca Palace at the top. The water flows through each section at the same rate, by a genious system of canals and stoppers, and the runoff is only at places where it wont errode any of the land.. which makes it durable so the fountians still flow the same way they did 500years ago.
After the fountains we headed upward to see a reconstruction of a house. then onward to the Quarry... my personal favourite. Its an area where there are just huge unworked rocks that were split then dragged to where they needed to be. The rocks look out of place because they are surrounded by incredibly well shaped Inca stones.
From here heading north there is a rock that is shaped like the Southern Cross, with each point pointing to the mountain ranges surrounding the area.. Wayna Picchu, Machu Picchu and two others that i dont remember the names of.
At the top fo the eastern side of the ruins there is a big sacred stone that noone knows what was used for. The theory is that it was a ´Hitching stone´ , used by the Incas to tie the sun to so that it didnt disappear. Oh those Incas. Apparently a few years ago , before the site was registered by Unisco , Cusqueña, the Cusco beer label made an advert next to the sacred stone. They had chicks in bikinis and a crane fell and chipped the tip of the rock , so now it doesnt read the Solstaces as it once did.

We walked around and down to the grass part in the middle, where our guide left us to explore on our own. I was so tired and slept under my unbrella for a few minutes before heading on to see the western side. This is the residential area so there was a labrinth of houses and steps and great view points. We wandered then went for food at the resturant at the entrance then returned for a nap under a tree .

After a while we decided we would go see the parts we had missed. We headed back the westward side and found the Condor temple. There is a carving of a condor head on the ground and if you stand in the right place and look up at the rocks surrounding it you can see the condors wings. We also managed to find the mortar room, which is a big room with two mortars on the floor in the middle. No one knows what they were used for because archeologists still havnt found out what crops the Incas grew in the terraces.

Well, thats a breif overview of a spectacular place, but its really unexplainable! so incredible seeing the stones that have lasted through earthquakes and managed to survive in such good condition for over 500years.