Cuzco and the Sacred Valley Tour
Cuzco is a great city. It´s principal business is tourism and most people who visit are usually planning to do the Inca trail or Machu Picchu.
On the first night we arrived it was a girl from the trips birthday (Susie) so we went to an absolutely fantastic restaurant called the Fallen Angel. The decor which was all created by the owner reminded me a lot of Dali - for example the tables were bathtubs with goldfish swimming in them with a glass top. There was also a massive silver angel in the courtyard.
After a nice steak (imported from Argentina) we went on to an Irish pub (you could buy Guiness in cans) then onto a club.
The next day we had free to look around and get ready for the trail. I bought a green Poncho as someone knicked my jacket - it´s very stylish as you´ll see from the photos.
The next day we set out for the trail. As well as your personal backpack you are allowed a duffel bag of 5KG which includes your sleeping bag - the porters carry this bag for you - more about the porters later.
The Sacred Valley Tour involved visiting lots of ruins on the way to the start of the Inca trail.
The first stop was ruins called Sacsayhuaman - this site had a great panaramic view of Cusco.
Next we stopped at a Llama farm and craft centre.
We also stopped at a place called Pisaq where there were more ruins including a huge Inca cemetary built up in the rocks as well as an irrigation system.
What´s hard to understand is that not much is known about the sites - i.e. exactly what they were for, when they were abandoned etc - quite often there are more ruins nearby these sites but there is no funding to excavate them.
We briefly visited a huge caft market in Pisaq before moving on for lunch at Urubamba.
Our final stop of the day was Ollantaytambo where we would stay before starting the Inca trail early the following day.
There were more ruins to look around and we had the chance to get stocked up with coco leaves (legal in Peru) to combat the altitude sickness and walking sticks.
We all got a good nights rest ready to start the trail.
On the first night we arrived it was a girl from the trips birthday (Susie) so we went to an absolutely fantastic restaurant called the Fallen Angel. The decor which was all created by the owner reminded me a lot of Dali - for example the tables were bathtubs with goldfish swimming in them with a glass top. There was also a massive silver angel in the courtyard.
After a nice steak (imported from Argentina) we went on to an Irish pub (you could buy Guiness in cans) then onto a club.
The next day we had free to look around and get ready for the trail. I bought a green Poncho as someone knicked my jacket - it´s very stylish as you´ll see from the photos.
The next day we set out for the trail. As well as your personal backpack you are allowed a duffel bag of 5KG which includes your sleeping bag - the porters carry this bag for you - more about the porters later.
The Sacred Valley Tour involved visiting lots of ruins on the way to the start of the Inca trail.
The first stop was ruins called Sacsayhuaman - this site had a great panaramic view of Cusco.
Next we stopped at a Llama farm and craft centre.
We also stopped at a place called Pisaq where there were more ruins including a huge Inca cemetary built up in the rocks as well as an irrigation system.
What´s hard to understand is that not much is known about the sites - i.e. exactly what they were for, when they were abandoned etc - quite often there are more ruins nearby these sites but there is no funding to excavate them.
We briefly visited a huge caft market in Pisaq before moving on for lunch at Urubamba.
Our final stop of the day was Ollantaytambo where we would stay before starting the Inca trail early the following day.
There were more ruins to look around and we had the chance to get stocked up with coco leaves (legal in Peru) to combat the altitude sickness and walking sticks.
We all got a good nights rest ready to start the trail.
posted by Phil at 10:53 PM
1 Comments:
Looks good - especially like the woolly coat! Jen x
Post a Comment
<< Home