Cusco

Plaza de arms, Cusco

For the bus from Arequipa to Cusco i decided to experiment with a public bus instead of using the night time gringo bus. The gringo buses cost 110soles (30GBP) but i found a daytime public bus for 25soles! It was interesting, i was the only pasty faced gringo on there and it appeared that i was also the only person not carrying huge bundles of wool or rugs.

saqsayhuama, how did they build that?!

The only slight drawbacks were that there was no air conditioning so it reached a ridiculous temperature, it stopped at every little hamlet in the middle of nowhere and took about 3 hours longer to get to Cusco! Also i was sat at the front on the top deck and the windscreen was pretty much smashed to pieces, it looked like the only thing keeping it together was the giant sticker bearing the companys name. From what i`ve seen of the roads and landscape so far i would guess falling rocks did the damage.

On several occasions while in chile and peru i`ve seen piles of rocks in the road blocking one lane of traffic that have come from landslides.

pukapukara, start of the original inka trek

I really like Cusco. The plaza is beautiful, an interesting mix of Incan and Spanish architecture. The Spanish is very ornate and pretty, the Incan very solid. The craftsmanship of the Incas is amazing, they specialised in building Granite walls, often using giant blocks, that fitted perfectly
I took a city tour yesterday, we visited several sites but the most impressive was Saqsayhuaman a large fortress above cusco that used huge blocks of granite up to 130 tonnes, that fitted so well it makes you wonder how its possible. It can´t be!

The tour was interesting also visiting pukapukara which was a resting place and start of the original Inca trail from Cusco to Macchu Picchu some 2 weeks trekking away, and Tambomachay a storage place complete with water supply.

Tambomachay

It also took in the Cathedral and church on the plaza, both interesting especially the cathedral as it was so overblown and spectacular. It holds 350 oil paintings up to 500 years old, as well as numerous giant gold and silver things(!)

I`ve let myself in for a punishing 4 day trek starting early tomorrow, to the remote incan city of Choquequirao. Then I have 2 days to recover, and do the far less tough Macchu Picchu. Hopefully i will have fully aclimatised by then. Not had a problem so far although i get a bit out of breath sometimes, usualy when i´m not doing anything! Cusco sits at 3500m above sea level, but i became partly aclimatised by staying in San Pedro and Arequipa, both over 2100m.

Actualy don´t quote me on that.........!

Cusco at dusk and me