We left Cusco and took the local bus to Pisaq, a town just 1 hour fromCusco to visit the Inca ruins. Im glad we didnt buy into the tourist tours and have done the SacredValleytrip ourselves as it is very easy (there is nothing wrong with local buses!), very cheap (20p) and a little more cultural. The ruins were pretty spectacular and we did a 2 hour walk around them going through tiny tunnels and walking on the edge of massive drops into thevalley below.I think i have vertigo as i was nearly sick at one point! We then got another local bus to a town called Urumbamba where we had to get a colectivo taxi to Ollantaytambo, the town where we were going to stay for a couple ofnights and visit Machu Picchu from. The town was rally nice, it had all th Inca ruins in the hillsides around the town. Some parts of the town are also over 700 years old. We stayed at a quiet place called Home Sweet Home, which it was! The first night we arrived we just chilled out- we went to a really nice restaurant where Maria had a huge steak and Tom had a huge Burrito- very impressed.

Next day was our visit to Macchu Picchu (MP). We got the train at midday and headed to the town of Agua Calientes, which is the closest to MP. The town itself is disgusting- loads of half finished buildings, and really touristy. Anyway we weren´t there for the town. We got our tickets and got the bus up the mountain to MP. The bus ride was an experience in itself with plenty of overhanging ledges and drops. When we made it to the top it was worth it though. MP is probably on of the most spctacular things you can see. How they even built it is a mystery and its great to walk wround the place. The only downside was some hippy who thought it appropriate to play an Inca flute from the top- probably a life long ambition of his- i nearly kicked him off the edge in disgust!! Apart from that and the rain it was really cool, the views around were spectacular and the remains were out of this world. We headed down to the town to get he train back after an average pizza! We arrived back at the hostel in the evening ready for bed!!!

Next day we woke up and went to see the Inca ruins around Ollyantaytambo, which weren´t as good as MP, but still imprssive none the less. I think after these we were "all ruined out"- there is something as too much of a good thing! We headed back to the hostel and had some lunch with a guy we had met in Cusco. We then headed back to Cusco for some dinner and our bus ride to Lake Titicaca and Puno!