Copa to Cuzco..The mighty Machu!!
Machu Picchu
Ollantaytambo. Sacred valley.
Pisaq. Sacred Valley.Quick fire posts here, but we had to keep them seperate due to the enormity of the places vivited in terms of Travel destinations!!.. Namely Machu Picchu!!!!!!!
Soooo from copa we hopped on another bus! in the direction of Cuzco, Peru, and the worst bus journey so far!!! cramped, packed and 11.5 hours long, 2 hours longer than expexted, but hey ho it was worth it for the resulting city at the end. Cuzco!! Beatifull, clean, relaxed - larger that expected - town with truely amazing Inca inspired architecture, great musems -modern Art, Pre-Colombian and numerous others- combined with great restaurants and the odd Enlish pub selling Speckled Hen!! which is nice!! Of course our main reason for heading here was Machu Picchu!
We didn´t book the Inca trail as this books up 3 months in advance and we didn´t want to tie ourseves to a date. So we shopped around on arrival and found a 3 day bargain tour including the sacred valley, entrance to Machu, two nights accomodation in Aguas Callientes including breakfast and train journeys, for a bargain $130 each!! We were quite plaesed about this and the fact that the trip worked out perfectly! The Sacred alley trip was incredible, the valley is surrounded by towering Andesite mountains, and was sacred to the incas due to the pleasant climate and incredibly fertile soil, which it clearly is. We visited the Ince runs of Pisaq, and Ollantaytambo, the latter being the most accesible and spectacular, we spent hours wandering around here. After that we go the train to Aguas Callienntes ( meaning "Hot Water", due to the thermal spring) which is the base town for Machu.
We got the bus the next morning at 5.30am to catch the sun rise over Machu Picchu, which never really happen due to mist, but it was a great experince non the less. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer spectacle of the site, perched right in the top of a huge mountain with incredible drops off either side!! But if this wasn´t spectacle enough, we decided to walk to wayna Picchu, approx 200meters above Machu, up quite a trecherous climb, but so worth it. It looks down on Machu providing the most incredible views and steep drops, my fear of hights kicked in and I spent most of my time clinging on to rocks and wires. The Inca ruins at the top are thought to have been a possile retreat. The fact they built on such incredible terrain is bewildering. We decided to blame it on the perpetual chewing of the coca leaf, which seem to be linked to many feats of human endurance in the north of this continent!! NUTTERS!!....
In the afternoon we visited the inca bridge, which spans a cliff face which allowed them to traverse a ridge, hopefull we will be up to date on the Photo front today, so check them out, there are quite a few!!!
We are now killing time before our bus to Arequipa this evening (the town my grandad Galloway grew up in!!) It´s the second biggest city in Peru and famed for it´s white building an surrounding Volcans! we arrive there on the 8th, and spend 2 nght before Lima and our flight to Costa Rica to see Mummy G!!!!!!
The count down beigins now, just over 8 weeks untill we return!! Doesn´t time fly!!
Check below for the other post if you haven´t already read it....
love to all.
xxj&jxx
Soooo from copa we hopped on another bus! in the direction of Cuzco, Peru, and the worst bus journey so far!!! cramped, packed and 11.5 hours long, 2 hours longer than expexted, but hey ho it was worth it for the resulting city at the end. Cuzco!! Beatifull, clean, relaxed - larger that expected - town with truely amazing Inca inspired architecture, great musems -modern Art, Pre-Colombian and numerous others- combined with great restaurants and the odd Enlish pub selling Speckled Hen!! which is nice!! Of course our main reason for heading here was Machu Picchu!
We didn´t book the Inca trail as this books up 3 months in advance and we didn´t want to tie ourseves to a date. So we shopped around on arrival and found a 3 day bargain tour including the sacred valley, entrance to Machu, two nights accomodation in Aguas Callientes including breakfast and train journeys, for a bargain $130 each!! We were quite plaesed about this and the fact that the trip worked out perfectly! The Sacred alley trip was incredible, the valley is surrounded by towering Andesite mountains, and was sacred to the incas due to the pleasant climate and incredibly fertile soil, which it clearly is. We visited the Ince runs of Pisaq, and Ollantaytambo, the latter being the most accesible and spectacular, we spent hours wandering around here. After that we go the train to Aguas Callienntes ( meaning "Hot Water", due to the thermal spring) which is the base town for Machu.
We got the bus the next morning at 5.30am to catch the sun rise over Machu Picchu, which never really happen due to mist, but it was a great experince non the less. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer spectacle of the site, perched right in the top of a huge mountain with incredible drops off either side!! But if this wasn´t spectacle enough, we decided to walk to wayna Picchu, approx 200meters above Machu, up quite a trecherous climb, but so worth it. It looks down on Machu providing the most incredible views and steep drops, my fear of hights kicked in and I spent most of my time clinging on to rocks and wires. The Inca ruins at the top are thought to have been a possile retreat. The fact they built on such incredible terrain is bewildering. We decided to blame it on the perpetual chewing of the coca leaf, which seem to be linked to many feats of human endurance in the north of this continent!! NUTTERS!!....
In the afternoon we visited the inca bridge, which spans a cliff face which allowed them to traverse a ridge, hopefull we will be up to date on the Photo front today, so check them out, there are quite a few!!!
We are now killing time before our bus to Arequipa this evening (the town my grandad Galloway grew up in!!) It´s the second biggest city in Peru and famed for it´s white building an surrounding Volcans! we arrive there on the 8th, and spend 2 nght before Lima and our flight to Costa Rica to see Mummy G!!!!!!
The count down beigins now, just over 8 weeks untill we return!! Doesn´t time fly!!
Check below for the other post if you haven´t already read it....
love to all.
xxj&jxx
posted by Jude and Jimmyg @ 4:31 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home