‘Half way’ July – with a certain someone turning up!

Still here!

This month went very quickly as we focused a lot on work and getting a new place to stay. The end brought and old friend for Ian and a new friend for Cat! Morby came to town...

Crazy June – with a certain someone’s birthday!

Still in ‘the white door’ and working away we took a little break, starting with homemade Marucuya Sours, a traditional drink in Cusco, made with passion fruit, pisco and egg white!! Yummy. It also happened to be the month of celebrations in the city of Cusco. The rainbow flag of Cusco was hung from every possible window and the city had events on practically all month, it was like they knew it was Ian’s birthday! Young and old got involved…

Ian also worked this month in an orphanage teaching a class of girls who were living there. We were invited to a charity fundraiser during his time there and the children put on performances for the audience.

This was Ian's class of young ladies

Everyday something was happening on the main square, so it was no surprise when one day we headed down and the plaza was full of over decorated statues of deathly Christ’s and virginal Mary’s.

Sticking with the traditions of Cusco we ate the customary dish for the month, it wasn’t the most delicious plate I have tasted but when in Rome. It consisted of Cuy (Guinepig), salted pork, cold chicken, sausage, deep fried omelette and fish eggs to top it off, and it was called Chirriucho!





Then Mr Mckeags birthday came around and so did the cake and karaoke!

Finally we ended the month with the big Incan traditional ceremony to the sun, held to celebrate the return of the sun and end of winter in south America

There was lots of dancing, lots of different costumes, and lots of processions                                                

Macchu Picchu

Aguas Calientes

The road to Machu Picchu began with a much looked forward to stay at a previous hostel in Ollantaytambo, due to the hot and fast gas shower! After two showers that day and a long shower the following morning we left in the darkness and rode the shaky narrow gauge train through the Urubamba valley. Following the river to Aguas Calientais, we arrived in the strange town, sunk in the middle of jungle covered mountains rising steeply on each side. There was only one reason for this over priced shabby town, and we were it… tourists.

      

View from the balcony

We found a cheap(ish) room overlooking the wide and rapid Urubamba river, then spent the rest of the day wandering around before bed at 7pm, ready to get up at 3am. Originally planning on walking the 1,400 or so feet up to the ridge where the ruins sit, we were told the gates at the bottom didn’t open until 5am and it was an hour walk, and as only the first 400 visitors get an extra permit to climb another part of the ruins, we decided to take the bus! So at 3:10am, we sat in line for the buses, and by my counting we’d be on the first. 5 o’clock came round both slowly and quickly, and at 5:30am we snaked our way in the darkness up the 15 or so switchback hairpin bends until finally joining the 100 or so walkers who were already making their way in. After getting the necessary permits to climb Huayna Picchu we entered (unsearcherd and keeping our lunch) into the ruins!

The first view was indescribable, it was nothing like I’d imagined or seen in all those pictures. The location where this city has been built is unbelievable and it is what really makes this place so special and impressive. It perched  2,430 meters on a ledge which must have seemed uninhabitable before the terraces were carved and the top of the ridge flattened enough for the citadel.

 

The sun rose as we entered Huayna Picchu, the mountain which rises above the city and the backdrop to most pictures of Maccu Picchu. This is where the priest and chosen women lived. We climbed the steep path 1,180 feet above the city where more buildings and sacred areas were built on an even more impossible looking place than below. 

We sat on a small terrace, legs dangling, for a Ritz cracker and pate breakfast looking over the site and on down to the river which circles and rushes on past. Walking back, I wondered when the last Quechua Incan had walked the same steps, which hadn’t changed since they did.  

We spent the whole day exploring everything we could possible fit in, walking to the SunGate which offered another incredible aspect, the Inca Bridge which is very isolated and easy to imagine 500 years ago, and flicking the pages of our borrowed self-guide at every building, monument and feature we came across. It was soon 5 and the guards were trying to usher the remaining tourists back down. The site was nearly empty by now as we sat again on a terrace, legs dangling, watching the sun set behind the snowy mountains opposite from the ones it rose from 10 hours ago.



Sunset




  

Pizza and wine!

We walked back down, crossed the river we’d heard all day, and looked back up to the few buildings you can see from the bottom. Now getting dark, we headed back to the hostal for a box of wine and a pizza on the balcony, before getting the train back to our temporary home of Cusco. 

The tea break reading is back!!

So it has been too long since I have up dated this and sorry if you haven’t had anything to read in your tea break but I am back and now you have a 24 page spread on what we have been doing!! Only joking but should keep you going while you dunk you biscuitsJ

I will start with an update about what has kept us so distracted, in one word, work! You know the story I am sure, but we were employed in May by a school in Cusco to teach English and it has been a dream. A great collection of students and teachers has made our first teaching English job really enjoyable. One of the best invitations we had in our first month of teaching was to the main square to watch a traditional dancing competition performed in front of the whole city! Little did we know the invitation included a little dance with the performers also!! Check out the outfits…

Also we checked out of our hostel and managed to find an apartment for awhile, it was in a cute little street, I say 'was' because it has all changed now and we have moved but for a month and a half we lived behind ‘the white door’ where we managed to hold the best official sock skating contest ever!

(the jury is still out on who won!!)

Deep in the Andes - Colca Canyon

This wild Condor posing for tourists over the valley of Colca is a naturists dream. If you like geography you would love this place! The sides of the valley are like the diagrams you see in the books brought to life. We did go to Arequipa but we didn't stay long. We set off for the Canyon drawn by stories of wild trekking and hidden oasis'. Taking the bus, and being involved in our first (and touch wood) only accident, we were unscathed when we arrived at the door way to the valley. It was only a blown out tyre and we hardly felt it, we then realised how minor it all was when we spoke with a Scottish couple, also on the bus, whose plane wheels hadn't come down in Bolívar and were lucky enough to tell the tale!

We walked around the Yorkshire Dale 'esk' countryside until we found the hot spring baths we had been told about. After a relaxing dip we had an early night ready for the 6am bus through the canyon. We sat on the bus the next day and wondered if we would get to the end destination as the driver was so crazy and coasted along the one way, gritty, cliff edged road. Using the beautiful scenery as a distraction we eventually reached Cruz del Condor. We were relieved to get off and walk around when we spotted a few of the birds we had come to see. They seemed to sail around intentionally for the tourists not bother by the near on 100 people watching them from the cliff edge. Bigger than 2.5m wing span they were completely mesmerising.

Off we popped after our fill of bird watching and we headed down the valley to Cambaconde. From the top we walked a ridiculous amount down, down and more down. We towered over what was the oasis we had been told about and occasionally we ran into a late rising traveller who was slogging upwards in the afternoon sun. The oasis itself was ...strange. It wasn't the natural oasis we had expected and it all seemed a bit crammed in but we found a sweet little hostel for the night and tried out the unheated pool. Yes it was cold but we could hardly trek all the way down there and not try it out! After a dip we had a candle lit dinner with a large group of tourists, who kept appearing until well after dark, and we had an early night ready for early morning number 2!!

Around 5am the alarm went off and it was a struggle to get up but we knew we were racing the sun to the top. We set off at 5.20 and made a PB getting to the top for 8.30 ready for a full cooked English breakfast in Boothys Scottish Cafe! Incredible! This same day we set off back to Arequipa, expecting to fall off a cliff on route or breakdown again but actually making it back in one piece and catching another double rainbow around the sun...unusual! Cruz del Condor, Arequipa, Colca Cayon, Sangalle,