After a couple of days in Cusco, there was a bit of a change of plan... we weren't going to leave Cusco and then come back in a couple of weeks to do the Inca Trail, but we'd change our booking and get on an alternative Machu Picchu trek within a couple of days.
So, we had a couple of days to kill before we started the Salkantay trek, and Cusco is a fine place for killing days, or for a lot of travellers, weeks and months! We were staying in the huge Hostel Loki, which we were told was the party hostal in town, and it really turned out to be true. We bumped into loads of people there who we'd met in various places over the past few months, and when we went out in town for some beers, we just kept meeting people we'd seen before... a few times before in some cases! We had a great time, and it really felt like a bit of a reunion the whole time we were there.
A day or two into our stay, the hostel held a 'spooky-theme' fancy dress party for Friday the 13th and plenty of people put in the effort with the costumes. It just so happened that Rich and I were travelling with a partially-ready fancy dress costume anyway. We donned our cycling tights, put some pants over the top, wedged our faces into the masks... then It just remained for us to find some capes, and our wrestling get-up was complete. Ok, ok, we were probably more 'disturbing' than 'spooky', but no-one seemed to care. Plus with names like 'The Blue Ghost' and 'The Black Bitch', no-one was going to mess with us.
When the party ended at the Hostel, all us fancy-dressers hit the town. And quite an impression we made on the locals as well... especially the guy with an axe stuck into a toy bunny-rabbits head... that went down very well. Top night.
But after recovering from that, we had to prepare ourselves for the 5-day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. We had a great group walking with us, 9 in all, plus a great guide by the name of Walter. The first 4 days were pretty tough going but really beautiful walking, as we went through a whole range of different landscapes, from being right up at the Snowline at over 4000m to way down in tropical jungles, it seemed to be changing around us all the time. It was apparently a much harder trek than the traditional Inca Trail, and so we dubbed all the folks doing that route "Inca Trail Pussies." We were the Salkantay heroes. (It made us feel good at the time, Ok
On the fifth day we were up at 4am to get some brekky in us and get up to Macchu Picchu early, before the tourist hordes arrived. After a brief but hard walk up to the site, we weren't rewarded with the spectacular sunrise we'd hoped for as there was a thick covering of morning mist over the mountains all around, but when the gates opened and we were allowed into the ruins, that didn't seem to matter any more. With so few people around, and the sun slowly starting to poke out, we could wander quite freely around the ruins and enjoy our tour with Walter. Plus, it meant we could get the 'Classic' shot of Machu Picchu, with the green peak of Huayna Picchu in the background, without any nasty tourists (like us) cluttering it up.
The ruins were really incredible, and remarkably well preserved. The precision stonework, the architecture, the terracing up the steep slopes were all amazing to see first-hand. But for all of us, the highlight of the site was the climb up Huayna Picchu and the view from the top. I really have never seen anything like it. The location of Machu Picchu is obviously no accident, as it sits at the meeting point of a number of valleys and, when you sit on top of the rocks on the peak at Huayna Picchu, the view is totally awe-inspiring. Even if the ruins weren't there, this would be a truly special site. Unbelievable. For all of us, Machu Picchu definitely lived up to all the hype and expectation- which is really saying something 'cause you've never seen hype like it!
Back to Cusco that night though, and a much needed shower and change of clothes before heading out on the town with our trekking buddies. What with all the excercise and altitude and everything, we all got rather drunk rather quickly, danced like fools, and then i fell asleep in the club so I've got nothing more to report.
The next day, Rich and I went with Eva, one of our Swiss friends, to see the football: Cienciano (Cuscos team) against Total Clean Arequipa (their name is due more to their sponsors than any sort of gentlemanly conduct on the pitch.) It was a great atmosphere in the stadium, and there was even a fight between two middle aged ladies right next to us (probably an argument over a guinea pig or something). It had everything. 2-2 in the end.
But at half time in the bustle for food, Rich got pickpocketed. Unfortunately his wallet contained our last cashcard between us. The next week or so to Lima were lean times on the road!
So, we had a couple of days to kill before we started the Salkantay trek, and Cusco is a fine place for killing days, or for a lot of travellers, weeks and months! We were staying in the huge Hostel Loki, which we were told was the party hostal in town, and it really turned out to be true. We bumped into loads of people there who we'd met in various places over the past few months, and when we went out in town for some beers, we just kept meeting people we'd seen before... a few times before in some cases! We had a great time, and it really felt like a bit of a reunion the whole time we were there.
A day or two into our stay, the hostel held a 'spooky-theme' fancy dress party for Friday the 13th and plenty of people put in the effort with the costumes. It just so happened that Rich and I were travelling with a partially-ready fancy dress costume anyway. We donned our cycling tights, put some pants over the top, wedged our faces into the masks... then It just remained for us to find some capes, and our wrestling get-up was complete. Ok, ok, we were probably more 'disturbing' than 'spooky', but no-one seemed to care. Plus with names like 'The Blue Ghost' and 'The Black Bitch', no-one was going to mess with us.
When the party ended at the Hostel, all us fancy-dressers hit the town. And quite an impression we made on the locals as well... especially the guy with an axe stuck into a toy bunny-rabbits head... that went down very well. Top night.
But after recovering from that, we had to prepare ourselves for the 5-day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. We had a great group walking with us, 9 in all, plus a great guide by the name of Walter. The first 4 days were pretty tough going but really beautiful walking, as we went through a whole range of different landscapes, from being right up at the Snowline at over 4000m to way down in tropical jungles, it seemed to be changing around us all the time. It was apparently a much harder trek than the traditional Inca Trail, and so we dubbed all the folks doing that route "Inca Trail Pussies." We were the Salkantay heroes. (It made us feel good at the time, Ok
On the fifth day we were up at 4am to get some brekky in us and get up to Macchu Picchu early, before the tourist hordes arrived. After a brief but hard walk up to the site, we weren't rewarded with the spectacular sunrise we'd hoped for as there was a thick covering of morning mist over the mountains all around, but when the gates opened and we were allowed into the ruins, that didn't seem to matter any more. With so few people around, and the sun slowly starting to poke out, we could wander quite freely around the ruins and enjoy our tour with Walter. Plus, it meant we could get the 'Classic' shot of Machu Picchu, with the green peak of Huayna Picchu in the background, without any nasty tourists (like us) cluttering it up.
The ruins were really incredible, and remarkably well preserved. The precision stonework, the architecture, the terracing up the steep slopes were all amazing to see first-hand. But for all of us, the highlight of the site was the climb up Huayna Picchu and the view from the top. I really have never seen anything like it. The location of Machu Picchu is obviously no accident, as it sits at the meeting point of a number of valleys and, when you sit on top of the rocks on the peak at Huayna Picchu, the view is totally awe-inspiring. Even if the ruins weren't there, this would be a truly special site. Unbelievable. For all of us, Machu Picchu definitely lived up to all the hype and expectation- which is really saying something 'cause you've never seen hype like it!
Back to Cusco that night though, and a much needed shower and change of clothes before heading out on the town with our trekking buddies. What with all the excercise and altitude and everything, we all got rather drunk rather quickly, danced like fools, and then i fell asleep in the club so I've got nothing more to report.
The next day, Rich and I went with Eva, one of our Swiss friends, to see the football: Cienciano (Cuscos team) against Total Clean Arequipa (their name is due more to their sponsors than any sort of gentlemanly conduct on the pitch.) It was a great atmosphere in the stadium, and there was even a fight between two middle aged ladies right next to us (probably an argument over a guinea pig or something). It had everything. 2-2 in the end.
But at half time in the bustle for food, Rich got pickpocketed. Unfortunately his wallet contained our last cashcard between us. The next week or so to Lima were lean times on the road!
