On to Cusco

Went on two really good walks in Huaraz though we weren´t brave enough to camp out as it rained most evenings.

The first walk was up to some ruins at Wilkawain. It´s a pre Inca temple near Huaraz. Nobody knows that much about it but its built out of stone on three floors and is still in surprising good condition. The strange thing about it is that the doors are tiny and the ceilings very low almost as if it was designed by very small people. Nowadays local children act as guides. I assume because they have a lower risk of bumping their heads.

The other walk we went on was from a village called Liupa then on to the boundary of the national park at Pitec. We were then supposed to go up to a lake called Churrup at 4500m. We started by getting a communal bus to Liupa at 7am and walking from Liupa to Pitec through some really beautiful countryside. At Pitec we were at 3900m and completely out of breath so it seemed infeasible that we would be able to climb any higher. The mountain that the Lago Churrup was on was also covered in cloud so we decided to wimp out and walk up the valley instead.

Even that high up there were still some indigenous indian villages where people seemed quite suspicious of strangers. Steve got into trouble with an Indian women for taking a picture of her sheep. Past the villages we went into the national park and the scenery looked like it hadn´t changed since the time of the dinosaurs. There were snow capped mountains on either side and a valley floor covered in big boulders. We saw two condors flying across the valley.

Yesterday we flew to Cusco. The flight there was pretty spectacular with great views of the Andes. Cusco is in a valley surrounded by mountains so the plane has to make a really rapid descent in order to land.

Cusco used to be the capital of the Inca empire and is very pretty. It looks almost like an Italian city and has lots of little streets and cafes. It is a massive contrast to the other two Peruvian cities that we have seen. Huaraz isn´t unpleasant but was rebuilt in the 1970´s after being knocked down in an earthquake. Lima is pretty unattractive, not sure specifically what went wrong.

Steve is in bed with a stomach upset so hasn´t seen much of Cusco yet. However he is starting to feel better so we should be taking a good look round this afternoon