Tues 16th Dec: Around Cusco

I´m up and better today. I don´t have much for breakfast just tea and bread. I meet Nicacio to sort out a ticket for Macchu Pichu. I´m not going to do a trek, not with the way my stomach is. Instead I´m going to visit some sites in the sacred valley on wednesday on my way to Aguas Caliente the closest town to Macchu Pichu. Stay there on Wed night and get up for the first bus up to the site and stay as long as I can at Macchu Pichu on Thursday before heading back to Cusco. I´m trying to get the cheapest deal on offer but I can´t help thinking there´s some big profits in ti for Nicacio. I get the ticket sorted by 10am and head over to a bus station to get a local bus to take me 6km out of town to 4 sites close to Cusco.

I get dropped off at Tambomachay, a royal spa. Its picturesque but thats about it. The most intriguing part of the visit occurs when a group of Peruvian women come over and ask to have their photos taken with myself and a French guy who happened to be sitting close by. I walked up to the next site about 600m up the road, Puka Pukara. Its a small fortress that sits at the head of a valley and defended the approaches to Cusco on one of the maind roads into town during the time of the Incas. Its stunning wee site, the panoramic views over the valley beautiful. I love me castles and forts and I was in my element here. Eventhough it was small it was up there with the nicest I´ve seen.

Leaving Puka Pukara I had a 3mile walk to the next site, atemple called Qenqo. This stretch of road has been noted for violent attacks on tourists in the past so I wasn´t sure if I was taking a risk walking alone. It was early in the day so I reckoned I´d be ok. Just in case, I picked up a rock, a bit ridiculous really. I got to Qenqo without any mishap, the only thing to come near me was a cow which burst through the bushes on the side of the road followed quickly by its owner, a woman in traditional dress who was screaming blue murder in hot pursuit. With multi-coloured petticoats swirling about and accompanied by a toddler throwing stones she chased it into the fields on the far side of the road to join up with the rest of the herd.

Qenqo was ok. I moved on to the last site overlooking Cusco, Saqsaywaman. This was impressive an enormous sacred site of the Incas with a fortified citadel overlooking all. It was a major ritual site as befitting an imperial capital. Its walls were constructed of massive blocks of stone carved to fit together seamlessly. It was here that a cataclysmic battle was fought between the Incas and Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro. The spanish fortified within the citadel of Saqsaywaman allowed a force of 20,000 incas to attack. In the ensuing battle 10,000 Inca army were massacred. On this day the Inca empire was effectively lost. The myth of Spanish invincibility struck deep. To stand among the ramparts its hard to imagine the absolute carnage which occurred here. It was a theme that was to reoccur with tragic consequences for the indigenous people. Almost appropriately a thunderstorm broke overhead. I ran over to a viewing point which held views over the city. Lightning streaked down on to nearby hills and rain began to obscure the lower parts of the town. I took it as my cue to leave. Thankfully the hostel was only 300m away down a series of steps. I enterd the hostel just as the rain began to fall.

This evening I managed to have two dinners. The last time this occured I was in Delta in the Sevier desert in Utah. I was very hungry after three days of a stomach bug and minimal food. I entered a cheap Polleria there were a few people eating in the place so I sat down. I ordered a quarter of chicken and chips. The staff were sullen. I noticed the place looked greasy and grimy. The floors were slick and dirty. I was handed a bowl of soup that was only lukewarm. When the main dish arrived it made me cringe. The chips were terrible, I had to force myself to swallow. The chicken? I reckon it was only half cooked. My stomach began to turn. Between the dirt of the place and state of the food I left the meal half eaten before I began to gag.

I walked 50yds down the street to Polleria Los Angeles. Immediately this place felt a lot better. It was clean, it was busy, the staff smiled. Why didn´t I come here in the first place? I sat down and ordered the same as before. Just as in Delta the second meal had much larger portions. After the soup I was beginning to fill up. The main course arrived with a mountain of chips alongside a well cooked chicken. Very soon I was struggling. I was still feeling quesy after the first place. I was quite full aswell but out of respect I didn´t want to leave a full plate behind me. I force fed myself and managed half the dish. By then I reckoned I could get away with leaving the remainder behind. I hid most of the remaing chips under the chicken, paid up and left. Feeling queasy and afraid of the possible consequences of the first meal I lumbered back to the Hostel.