Cuzco

1am in the morning and we are woken by the stillness of the bus and then by some security people searching the bus, no idea what for, including looking under our feet before leaving us to continue on our journey. We arrive in Cuzco at just after 4am and settle ourselves down to wait for daylight before making a move to walk to our hostel. Finally at about 6 it is light enough for us to walk safely and with our packs on our back we made our way through the early morning grey of dawn towards the centre of town. Stopping frequently to take pictures or to have a rest from our packs we passed a high tower with a rather formidable looking Inca on top of it from where we could see another statue high up on the hillside standing guard over the city. Also on the hills were some large pictures cut out of the grass, Long Live Peru! And a crest, I imagine of Cuzco. As we continued we passed a number of monuments including what looked like a very impressive fountain, only that it was turned off and several smaller statues. The streets once we turned off of the main thoroughfare were tiny, being only just wide enough for one car and a very narrow pavement, meaning that you had to almost step into a doorway to avoid being side swiped by one of the many Daewoo Matiz or similar small cars that the locals appear fond of driving at breakneck speed along the cobbles. The cobbles do act as a good early warning system though as you can hear the cars coming before you can see them, the height of the buildings on either side serving to act like a tunnel which amplifies the sound even more! Eventually we found our hostel along one of these tiny streets and after the lady opened a door into a room where people were sleeping, decided to put us in a private room instead. We gratefully put our bags down and I made for the shower before the morning rush (not that there would have been one anyway, the hostel being full of weed smoking layabouts) and was rewarded by a warm shower that ended in a scalding trickle! Nonetheless, I was happy that it wasnt cold and by 9.15 we were headed out the door to explore Cuzco. No sooner had we found our way to the Plaza de Armas than we were accosted by a tour tout and curious as to how much things cost and hoping he may give us some useful information, we followed him to his office where he proceeded to lecture us for over half an hour in spanish that got faster and faster so as to be unintelligible before we had to quite rudely get up and leave with him following us out into the square again! The guy would not take no for an answer and even after we had walked to the other side of the square to sit and look through the guide books for their info on prices, he came over yet again to try and persuade us to take a tour with him! It could have been the best, cheapest most awesome tour in the world and we still wouldnt have gone with him after being treated like that, so feeling thoroughly ruffled, we stalked off to get away from him, me muttering curses and giving the other approaching touts such black looks that they thought twice! Andy took some pictures as we were walking along of the square, beautiful fountain and the hugely impressive (imposing?!) churches that fronted onto the square, as well as 'Paddy's Pub', reportedly the highest elevation Irish Pub in the world! Still needing information on how to get to Machu Pichu we followed the advice in the guide book and eventually found iPeru tourist office. In here were some very helpful, unbiased (they dont sell tours!) people who helped us to work out our route via various buses to Aguas Calientes which is the village closest to Machu Pichu and where you can walk there from or get the bus. We also found out that the other places we wanted to visit in the area are cheaper when you buy a 'boleto turistico' or tourist ticket, which lasts 10 days and admits you to a dozen different places of interest within Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. We thanked them and went off to the Municipal Office round the corner to buy the ticket and said we would be back later when the lady who sold the Machu Pichu tickets was back from lunch (4pm then!) With our boleto turistico came a rather good map and a little info about each place it entitles you to visit, we sat in the square looking through this and turned away no fewer than 20 people trying to sell us stuff, very irritating, then, as some of these places were in Cuzco itself and we had no other time to see them we decided to go to them now. The 1st one was the Inca Tower we had passed that morning near the bus stop, so we walked all the way back there, stopping to buy some grapes on the way as well as take photos of various other things we saw. We weren't disappointed with our long walk though as it turned out to be an interesting museum of sorts about one of the most famous Incas, Pachahutec, who designed and built Cuzco, being an exceptional character in both war and peace time. From the top of the tower we got a good view out across the city and if we return in 5000 years time it should still be standing as this is how long the people who built the tower made it to last!! Leaving the tower behind we made our way back towards the centre, taking in the Artesan Market which sells much the same kind of things you could buy in La Paz except with Peru written on instead of Bolivia, there were however some interesting murals on the walls and some giant models which we took pictures of before continuing on. We came across the fountain again except this time it was working and was quite a sight, a large waterfall that you can walk behind with a whirlpool either side spinning in opposite directions! Walking through a narrow cobbled street with very high walls either side, the one on the right being the oldest wall in Cuzco, we were able to find the '12 sided stone' mentioned in the guide book, minus the children begging for pointing it out to you thankfully! The walls really are very impressive as the joins between the stones, which as shown by one with 12 sides (irregular) are all different, are absolutely perfect! There is no mortar between them and no gap to even slide a fag paper between...shame our builders back home cant see it, they'd be ashamed of their 2" tolerance in their brick work then!! We walked by the Iglesia de Santo Domingo which has a small museum underneath, entrance to which is included on our boleto and which we intended to visit later after we'd bought our Machu Pichu tickets. We also went by the beautiful Palace of Justice, a giant white building that contrasts greatly with the red brick and stonework all around which just serves to make it look more splendid. Getting back to the tourist office just after 4pm we went in and bought our tickets to Machu Pichu which you have to specify the date you intend to go on and which are non transferable/refundable and also have your name and passport number on! There was a little confusion as the lady didnt speak any English and asked me if I wanted tickets just for Machu Pichu or for the city as well, not knowing what city she was on about and the tickets being very expensive already I said just Machu Pichu and for just under $50 each was presented with our entrance tickets and told to take passports with us when we were to go. Heading back past the Palace of Justice we found the entrance to the museum under the Iglesia de Santo Domingo and spent half an hour or so looking at various Inca artefacts as well as several skulls which had been 'trepanned' (had holes bored to relieve pressure, apparently 65% of patients survived!) and also ones which had been bound at birth to change the shape, elongating their head to show status or for fashion!! Leaving the museum by a different exit we found ourselves in the garden of the Iglesia, obviously somewhere we weren't meant to be from the stern looks from the guard, so we quickly made our way to the street and decided to try and find 'Gringo Alley' where the guide book said we should find cheap meals for dinner. We found several camping shops to look for roll mats in along the way and kept the card of one so we could find it again once we were back from Machu Pichu to purchase a couple. Eventually deciding on a restaurant offering a meal with starter and free Pisco Sour (today happened to be National Pisco Sour Day!!) for $5 we sat ourselves down to decide whether to have the Italian menu, the Peruvian menu or the Mexican menu! We both decided on mexican for a change and with Garlic bread, tortilla chips and salsa as an appetiser, amazingly good soup for starter, delicious Pisco Sours and a filling, flavoursome burrito for me and chimichanga for Andy, we considered it money well spent and the best meal we'd had in ages! By the time we'd finished devouring it was dark outside and our walk back to the hostel was repeatedly halted as we took pictures at night, the whole place looking very atmospheric and beautifully lit to create an almost Parisian feel. On the way we also stopped to buy some things to eat for the journey the next day and when we got back to the hostel just had time to re-pack our bags, put our large bags into storage and see how the internet worked on Andy's Ipod before turning in to our bed at just before 9pm!