Back to Buenos Aires - and back to Sydney

Our last 2 days in Peru were spent in Urubamba - where we explored the town and found a great restaurant... there are Pisco Sours and Pisco Sours - and these were good! as was the food. On the last day we shopped in Cuzco and visited Saqsayhuaman, a pre-Inca site, and one on the scale of the other Inca sites we have visited. We also shopped and bought ourselves - and our friends and families - baby Alpaca woollen garments at bargain prices. We were also treated to a superb meal at a world-class restaurant in the Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. A few years ago when we first visited Cuzco, such a restaurant did not exist, nor did the bustling traffic. It is now a really busy tourist centre, but it still retains its character, which was very obvious from the window of our hotel where we looked the crowded tiled roofs and busy lives of the local inhabitants.
It was sad to leave but our short stay soon ended and we headed back to Buenos Aires for one night before boarding our plane back to Sydney the next day - thankful that we were not involved in the hassles of passengers in the northern hemisphere who are still at the mercy of the volcano in Iceland.

Inca sites, Machu Picchu - Peru is a walker's paradise

It's three days since I've written! We arrived in Cuzco, travelled to our hotel in Yucay - did our best to acclimatise and set off next day for the Inca sites of Moray - where archeaologists have unearthed huge rings of horticultural terraces, used by the Incas to test the climate tolerance of plants; the salt mines at Maras - once again a huge terraced slope this time of salt pans and Ollantaytambo (pictured) - the mind-boggling Inca kingdom of the Emperor Pachacuti. I can't do justice to the Inca empire in this blog - suffice it to say that they have to be seen to be believed, the Incas had a great understanding of the natural world and engineering. The highlight of the trip for every traveller is of course Machu Picchu.
We devote 2 days to travelling to Agua Calientes, the town that feeds tourists up to the site, and set off early by bus to the rail depot at Ollaytaytambo. Seven years ago when I previously visited Machu Picchu one caught the train directly from Cuzco and it took 3 hours. Even before the huge floods early this year (2010) Peru rail had moved the depot to Ollaytaytambo, but now one must take a long bumpy bus ride to the train depot further down the track to catch the train. Quite arduous and not as much fun, but it becomes very apparent why when travelling on the bus, the railway line suddenly disappears into a chasm in the river bank!

Our first day at Machu Picchu it rains - but for all of us, even those who have been before it is magical - and we have an excellent guide. The llamas oblige with a photograph and we learn much about this site, which was a summer retreat for the Inca kings and nobility.

Our hotel is the best in town, the Inkaterra Pueblo. It is an eco-centre and everything from the accommodation to the food are world class. We down another Pisco Sour (gratis) and discuss the next day. Most of the party decide to return to Machu Picchu and explore some of the parts that are not on the regular tour trail. The sun shines this time and we find the colourful local orchids clinging to the sides of the stupendous mountain cliffs over the Inca trails, awesome. One of our party was heard to say that exploring Machu Picchu was better than tango!
At day's end, we take the train back to the bus depot and the long road journey back to Pisac. Today is a day of rest. We will explore Urubamba - and get ready for Cuzco tomorrow!