In Search of the Inca

 It’s been a great day. We hiked for 7 miles and climbed over 400 metres. We left the apartment at 10.30 heading for an archeological site Q’enqo where there are Inca ruins of a temple and some tunnels and a view of Cusco that we rarely get to see. It’s really breezy today but dry so we decided to walk further. We took a path that went through fields and lanes and we barely saw anyone, just farmers in the distance and another hiker lying on a huge rock. The birds were singing, flowers and butterflies everywhere and fluffy white clouds in the sky. In order to have a sense of purpose we walked to two more archaeological sites that were quite interesting to walk round. It’s hard to believe that so much has been preserved when you read about the Spanish conquest. We stopped along the way for water and snacks and just to enjoy the countryside.  We flagged down a bus and for two soles each (about 40p each) we caught the bus home! There was a slight misunderstanding as we tried to g...

It was an unusual start to the day as we had to leave here at 7.30 am to go on an organised tour. No leisurely breakfast today,  just a quick coffee, granola and out the door. We got to the pick up plaza in plenty of time so we treated ourselves to a croissant. A guy who was selling tours other on the corner did his best to undermine our confidence in the validity of our booking, but we smiled politely and said we’d wait and see. Sure enough the minibus arrived with the allotted time frame. There were twelve on the bus and luckily for us the common language was English. Our guide, JC, was  an excellent English speaker. I’m always so impressed when people are fluent in more than one language. Despite hours with Duolingo, the Peruvians struggle to understand my Spanish! On the plus side it has helped me understand a lot more Spanish.  Anyway the tour took us first to a fabric and wool weaving town, Chinchero,  where there were demonstrations of the process and we learn...

What an adventure we had today! We had the very nerve wracking experience of travelling by  colectivo to the town of Pisac. These minibuses do a circuit … Cusco- Pisac- Calca and the fare is 6 soles (£1.20) each for a 45 minute journey. You arrive at colectivo street, real name Calle Puputi, where the sound of people shouting Pisac.! Calca! is cacophonous. We got on a bus and waited for more people to arrive (they don’t leave til the bus is full). We were the only tourists on the bus and everyone getting on after had a good stare. Then off we went for the most hair-raising journey round switch backs and hairpin bends. The scenery was lovely but went by in a blur as the driver, one hand on the wheel and the other holding his phone, overtook everything and seemed to reluctant to reduce speed or change gear. All we passengers were thrown from side to side - but we survived 😂 We took a taxi from town to the entrance of the ruins thankfully the driver was more sedate! The time we spent...