Visit to a Wonder of the World

The next Peruvian pit-stop was the one I’d been waiting to get to for weeks – Cusco, home to Machu Picchu. After having had a great stay at Wild Rover in La Paz, we chose to stay in the Wild Rover in Cusco too, and it was nice to be in a vaguely familiar environment. My bed was by the window in our room and had incredible views over Cusco, which was a lovely sight to wake up to. We had a few days to pass in Cusco before Jen had to head back to England, and as she had visited Machu Picchu at the beginning of her travels, I decided to save that until after she’d gone.

Cusco square

Our first day was spent wandering round the super cute San Pedro market. This was easily one of the nicest markets we’d been to, as it had some really nice bits and bobs and we didn’t feel like we were being constantly harassed by vendors as we had in some other markets. I picked up some trinkets for friends and family, and we then headed to the nearby Paddy’s Irish bar, which claims to be the highest Irish pub in the world. After a pint of cider, we had a stroll through the streets of Cusco, where I fell for a classic tourist trap and got seriously overcharged for a photo with a baby alpaca. We ended up back at the hostel, where we freshened up before going to a restaurant called Fuego, which did the most incredible alpaca burgers, aka the best burger I’ve ever eaten in my life (so good we went back again two days later).

Alpaca burgers at Fuego

The next morning we woke up ridiculously early to make our way to Rainbow Mountain. We were really lucky with the weather, as just days before the mountain had been covered in snow and the beautiful rainbow colours had been hidden, but the day we chose it was stunning weather and all of the colours were completely visible. After a quick breakfast stop, we reached the bottom of the mountain, where you could decide to either ride a horse to the top or walk your way up. At an altitude of 5,200 metres, the walk is immensely difficult, but we chose that route as I think it’s kind of cruel to make those poor horses walk up and down the mountain day in, day out. Choosing to walk meant that I thought I was going to die from lack of oxygen by the time we reached the top, but it was absolutely worth it for the striking views around us, which were quite possibly more breathtaking than the altitude (just about).

Rainbow Mountain

On Jen’s last day in Cusco, a group of us went on a walking tour of Cusco, and it was lovely to see more of  the city and to learn about its history. That night we all went out and sat up until the early hours so we could say our goodbyes to Chris, Drew, and Jen, who were all heading home early in the morning. Naturally, it was an emotional goodbye, as Jen and I had been inseparable for 6 weeks and Chris and Drew had been with us since the Salt Flats, but it was made up for by the fact Tim, Adam and I were starting the journey to Machu Picchu as soon as they left.

Overpriced alpaca photo!

As we began our trip up the mountains to the historical site that is Machu Picchu, we fast realised that we should probably have got some sleep the night before. We had chosen the cheapest option, which involved a 6 hour drive up windy mountain roads in a hugely uncomfortable van, before what felt like the world’s longest walk up to Aguascalientes, which took literally hours. Had we not been disgracefully hungover and tired, it would probably have been enjoyable, but in our state it was almost tragic, especially when it started raining about two hours in. When we finally arrived at Aguascalientes we ate a stupidly overpriced pizza and then collapsed in our hostel beds.

At Machu Picchu

We woke up in far better spirits, and eager to get to Machu Picchu. We bought a ticket for the bus up there, as the previous night had put us off walking for the foreseeable future. Luckily, Machu Picchu was absolutely incredible and more than worth the trek up to Aguascalientes. I had thought it might be somewhat underwhelming, but honestly it was beautiful, and so much better than I could ever have imagined. We spent a couple of hours walking round, then caught the bus back to Aguascalientes and in continuation of our ban on walking, we forked out for the tourist train back in the direction of Cusco, in much better spirits after having seen the incredible Wonder of the World. The next day we had dinner at a lovely restaurant called La Bodega 138 before we caught a night bus to Arequipa, which I’ll tell you all about in the next instalment as I think I’ve written enough for one post!

Un abrazo,
Lola x