Illness

Pisac, shortly before i threw up

Well, it had to happen at some point. The day before Choquequirao i took a tour around sacred valley near Cusco (valley that follows the river Urumbamba, sacred as it was considered to be very fertile) that contains a few Incan sites. I felt pretty ropey when i got up, by the time we reached the first site i was really ill, and threw up on a site called Pisac (series of temples with large agricultural terraces), much to my embarrassment. Actualy i wasn´t that embarrassed, i was just relieved that i felt a lot better afterwards.
The guide was great, she took me to a nurse on the site who checked my blood pressure, then to a doctor at the entrance of the site who said it was just a tummy bug and dehydration. She gave me antibiotics and rehydration drink so i spent the day drinking that.


Salt pan channels



 After Pisac we went to a site called Ollantaytambo, an Incan royal estate that was again a series of terraces and ruined buildings. My interest had returned a little by this point, but when i got back to Cusco i went and postponed Choquequirao for 3 days to recover a bit.
I blame the upset tummy on a restaurant Julian the Austrian made me go to the day before, it cost 5soles (1.20GBP!) for soup and a chicken leg with rice and vegetables. Funnily enough i was wondering at the time if it would make me ill.



Incan salt pans still used



So the day after i felt a bit better and ate a bit, then the following day i was back to normal. I took another tour, to visit the sites of Moray and the Salt pans. The salt pans looked magnificant, dozens of original Incan Pans that spread out all down the side of a steep valley. The surrounding hills used to be a sea bed so contain huge concentrations of salt. Water is channeled from a stream into the pans. The water supply is blocked off, and the salt dries in the sun and is dug out.

We then visitied Moray, 3 seperate sites of large concentric terraces that sit in a large depression in the ground. They were probably used to grow vegetables and for experiments on growing in different temperatures as there is a 15c temperature range between top and bottom.



Moray



To celebrate my bodily functions returning to normal, last night i went to the only Indian restaurant in Cusco. An all you can eat buffet was 3.50GBP, fairly nice food but a bit salty. The owner was great, he moved there 4 years ago from the UK to service homesick (and foodsick!) brits like myself.



He was excited to learn i live near bradford, and said i could go to the restaurant to watch England v Pakistan on friday, but i should be on the Choquequirao trek then. Well hopefully! Might pop back tonight though for another taste of home.......