Apologies for the blog silence over the last week or so but we have been on a mini-break! As predicted, it took us a while to 'acclimatise' to touristy Cuzco but it didn't take long to get used to the endless variety of food and drink available - all at four times the usual price but worth every Sol. We ended up staying a week - not just because of the apple pastries but also beacuse train tickets to Machu Picchu were in short supply and though Clive had been before on his previous tour of the continent, we decided that it could not be missed.
And I wasn't disappointed. It is truly amazing, for me more because of the dramatic high-mountain setting than the actual site, though if you can fight through the tour groups, there is some incredible stonework. It's a long day out, involving a four-hour train journey from Cuzco (down the beautiful Urubamba valley), about five hours at the site and then five hours back on the train. When we arrived, in an attempt to get away from the crowds, we headed straight for Waynapicchu, the big pointy peak in the background. It is more of a scramble than a walk up a very steep, rocky path, culminating in an almost vertical set of steps up to the fortification at the top (fun in a vertiginous sort of way!). And the view of the site from the top is amazing - really atmospheric.
We finally pedalled out of Cuzco on 17th Nov and we are now on our way to Puno on a lovely tarmac road with only one high pass, then we hit the altiplano. On our way out of Cuzco yesterday, having seen only three cyclists since Quito, we were astonished to pass what almost amounted to a peloton on the hard shoulder. A German couple, who have done 60,000km on their round-the-world trip and, pictured right, a Swiss couple plus four-year-old son in a trailer on their way from Canada to Tierra del Fuego. Truly remarkable.
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