We arrived in Cusco on Sunday morning (and my birthday), after a 21 hours bus ride from Lima, fortunately we decided to travel with 'Cruz del Sur' (the Rolls Royce of peruvian bus companies, you pay a little more but you know where that extra money goes). Once we found the hostel, I went out and treated myself to an hour massage session, 'es mucho relaxo'.
That night we went out for dinner at one of the 'nice' restaurant to celebrate the birthday. It was a pleasure, after almost 2 months on the road, to feel normal for a night. We even ordered a whole bottle of wine, which was a treat as we've been drinking the 1 litre 'box' wine from Argentina (Imported bottle wine is really expensive in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the local stuff is cat's piss).
We woke on Monday, with 3 days in hand before our tour of Machu Picchu started, unfortunately Victoria wasn't feeling too good but she pushed on. We walked around Cusco, checking out the sights and sounds, it's a pretty little town but vert touristy, with the locals touting for tours, restaurants, taxi, massages, you name it, and they're trying to hard sell it. And everything seemed to cost twice as much as the rest of Peru. Anyway, our walk took us past some Inca sites, including Qorikancha (or 'Temple of the Sun') where the Spanish had built a colonial church on over the site in the 17th century, which was later revealed during an earthquake in the 1950's , impressive.
Tuesday morning, Victoria has taken a turn for the worst, so off to the english speaking doctor (who spoke no english....). Victoria needed some rest (and medication), so we move from our hostel into a little hotel called 'Hotel Niños', an converted Spanish house around a courtyard. I put Victoria into bed and went off exploring. I hiked up to the Inca site 'Sacsayhuaman', which is pronounced 'sexy woman', which sits above Cusco, with an amazing view of the town and surrounding mountains. Back in town, checked out a couple of churches and the main square.
Wednesday arrived, and not much improvement for Victoria, so I booked myself on an all day motorbike tour of the Scared Valley. It was me and the guide, a 20 year old motorcross racer. We took off at 9am, after 30min it was all dirt roads and amazing scenery. I spend the next hour trying to keep up with the guide, and a couple of near misses, I decided that it was a good idea to slow down a little, after all i'm 31 now.... We got back about 4pm, I checked on Victoria, she was feeling a little better, we had 'pizza in bed' for dinner.
Thursday morning, Victoria was smiling again, and it was time to head for Machu Picchu.
Victoria over looking the main square
Inside the Inca ruins
Overlooking Cusco (with the 'Sexy woman' ruins on the right
Man and machine
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