Back to Cuzco

We were up at 7:30 today and arrived at the Blue Llama just as they were opening, our info was correct and we immediately ordered all you can eat pancakes each. We were rewarded with a plate of 3 incredibly light and fluffy pancakes each the size of a normal dinner plate as well as a little jug of honey to pour on them. One we had both finished our plated the waitress tuned up with a new plate containing 4 more, after finishing these (I had 6.5 and Mae 3.5) we decided that any more would be excessive and instead set off to find a bus back to Cuzco. We arrived just as one was passing through town and asked if we could be dropped off at Tambomachay ruins which are about 8km from Cuzco as the crow flies. After reminding them once more as we passed the ruins we managed to get dropped off about 500m down the road and walked back up the road to the entrance. Mae was extremely pleased that these ruins had no steps and seemed to be an Inca holiday resort, it consisted of a somewhat large construction with several fountains surrounding a small waterway which had some waterfalls and a wooden bridge connecting the two sets of ruins together. The second set of ruins, about 1/2km from Tambomachay was called Puka Pukara and looked a little like a small fort and once again contained no steps, we looked around both these ruins in about 45mins as they are quite small and the views from Puka Pukara are substantially more impressive than the ruins themselves with the distant snow-capped mountains of the Cordillera in the distance. We then walked the 7 or so Km to the last set of ruins called Saqsaywaman (pronounced 'sexy woman'!) which are located on a hill overlooking Cuzco. (just opposite the large Jesus statue) There was supposed to be one more set of ruins to visit but unfortunately with no signs to tell you where it is we managed to miss the entrance. In any case it didn't matter as the last set of ruins are by far the most impressive and the largest. The site is huge, possibly larger than Machu Pitchu and contains several different sections, the first one we went through was set amongst huge rocks which have been carved away to make what appears to be a sort of Inca village complete with tunnels through the rocks to connect the area together. After venturing through one extremely dark tunnel we found ourselves in an amphitheatre like area of terraces which are easily big enough to be a football stadium. Beyond this there was a temple like area with the customary perfect stone masonry however this site used some unbelievably large stones which must have weighed several tons. Even more incredible is that despite their size these ruins only amount to 20% of the original structure which the Spanish dismantled to build all the churches in Cuzco, the place must have been immense when it was in use!! Once we had finished our exploring we grabbed a coffee before making our way down the very steep hill which leads back to Cuzco and walked to the bus station where we booked a ticket on an overnight bus to Cuzco. (all the bus companies have different prices so we had to ask them all individually on top of the fact that the only cash machine available charged us $3 to get our money out, we were not impressed!!) Finally we went back to the camp shop we had found on our last visit and picked up a couple of rollmats and then went for dinner at an Indian restaurant where we got a buffet of different dishes for $5 each. (the profits of which go to feed local children) This place was amazing, not only were the dishes delicious in their own right (and more authentic than those available back in the UK I bet) the chef was also on hand to suggest different combination which gave a huge variety to the 10 or so dishes available. We both think that this restaurant is even better than the one in La Paz and Mae went so far as to say it's the best she's ever been to!! Now completely stuffed we collected our bags from the hostel and caught a taxi to the bus station where we caught our bus. It turned out to be the most cramped bus we've suffered on our travels so far, on top of which they decided to play the same awful Chuck Norris film twice in a row very loudly to prevent you from going to sleep!!!! We eventually nodded off around midnight.