Peru Day 8- Cusco to Puno

The taxi that was meant to arrive at 6:30am to catch the 7:00am bus to Puno didn't arrive until 6:40am, which made it a rush to the bus stop. But we made it in time!
Our first stop was Andehualillas, which was yet another stunning church with an over whelming amount of gold.

Then we stopped for lunch at a buffet place, which had a wide range of food.
There was another stop at a small hill side market but I wasn't feeling well enough to get off at this point.

We finally made it to Puno after a 10 hour bus drive, we went straight to our hotel which was outside of the town and so had a beautiful view of the town bellow.

After the long journey, we where in no fit state to go out into the city again and so ate at the restaurant that was part of the hotel.

Peru Day 7- Cusco

After many early mornings and days of travelling, we decided to have a really lazy start to the day. I still wasn't feeling to well, so this really suited me.

In the morning we just slowly ambled through the shops before taking a look at the cathedral. I must admit I've never seen so much Gold in a church before.
For lunch we, on my request, where really boring by going to McDonald's. I just really wanted something that my body knows and wouldn't make me feel any worse.

We then went onto the Inka museum, which was brilliant at help us understand the pre- Incan history of peru. There where also some really interesting Incan artefacts.
Inside the museum there is also a great tapestry shop that sells beautiful pieces for a good price.
After the museum we went to the arch-Bishops palace, which is also the museum of religous artifacts and sits on an old incan building. The inside is so ornate and beautiful, the tiles and the carvings where the most beautiful aspect for me.

We then made our way to the church of san blas.
The rest of the group then went to the planetarium, whilst I stayed in bed at the Hotel, in the hope that it would help me to recover faster.

Peru Day 6- Ollantaytambo to cusco

The taxi arrived at 9:00am and took us to Moray. However at this point I really wasn't well enough to even think about getting out of the taxi, but I did take a good look at everyone else's photos.
Then we drove to Maras, where I was well enough to enjoy the salt mines, which really do look amazing from above.
After that we went onto Chinchero for lunch at Meriendo which was just a super relaxed place with great food. We also watched an interesting weaving demonstration. Before finishing the day at our Hotel in Cusco.
Because of how ill I had been, I wasn't able to take any photos and the person who did take photos that day, sadly never emailed them across to me. Hence the reason why there have been no posts for so long. I had hoped to have the photos by now but decided to post this without them. If I do finally get the photos, I will update this post. 

Peru Day 5- Machupichu

All I can say is how amazing Machupichu is. In the morning we had to get up at 4:00am to be in the bus line by 4:30am. However even then we weren't on the first batch of buses. We didn't miss them by much, so if we'd have been in line for 4:15am we'd have been at the site 40 minutes earlier.

Of course by the time we got to Machupichu dawn had broken. Due to being high up it took longer for the sun to rise, so we were able to see the sun rise over Machupichu.

Then we spent the rest of the morning exploring Machupichu. At first we where with our guide Carlos, but then we were able to explore by ourselves.

We also hiked to the Inca bridge. I have a fear of heights and although this was hard, it was do able.
Once we where getting hungry, we decided to head back down to the town and leave Machupichu behind.

We found a place in town that seemed to be called 'fast food', which sounds great to hungry travellers. So we each got the s/15 a head burger meal.

Then we just ambled around the town until two o'clock when we made our way to the train station for our 14:30 Inca rail train to Ollantaytambo.
Once in Ollantaytambo we had dinner at the Hotel because I was suffering from a head ache.

Day 4 Peru- km 104 to Machupichu

We started the day at 5:45 and caught the 7:20 train from Ollantaytambo station to km 104. From there we 'basically' hiked to Machupihu.

The company we used for this trek was the Lama Path. Our guide was amazing, he was so helpful and willing to go at our pace. He was also very good at sorting out the small problem of a forgotten Isic card. If you do go with the Lama Path, ask for Carlos as a guide, he was so friendly and informative.

Of course the Inca trail was beautiful. The views made the sometimes tough hike well worth it. Finally the deal we had with Lama Path included dinner.

Peru Day 3- Ollantaytambo

This day was a bit more relaxed. We chose to really explore Ollantaytambo before starting the Inca trail. We got up at a reasonable time of about 8:30 before making it out at around 9:30.

In the morning we explored the Ollantaytambo runes, so that we could avoid the crowds that arrive in the afternoon. The runes where great! At the entrance you can find both English and Spanish speaking guides. It's important to remember that like most things you have to haggle when it comes to the price.

However we found that our guide wasn't the best, as some of the facts she gave us were wrong. That being said we wouldn't have spent nearly as much time at the runes had we not had a guide.
Afterwards we had lunch at the main square. Although good, it didn't come close to the amazing food at the blue magic restaurant.

Having had lunch, we ambled back to the hotel, were a few members of our group, still struggling with altitude, chose to stay in the hammocks, while the rest of us climbed up to Pinkylluna. These runes are completely free and well worth the hike.

Later we attended a chocolate making course at the Choco Museo. This was a really interesting experience. We got to roast and shell coco beans, taste various hot chocolates and make our own chocolates. It made for a great evenings entertainment.
Of course for dinner we went back to the blue magic restaurant!

Peru Day 2- Cusco to Ollantaytambo

We landed early in the morning in Cusco and promptly found our pre-booked taxi. The taxi driver was brilliant at stopping at beautiful view points along the way.

We had already arranged to stop off at Pisac, so that we could see the market and the ruins.
Sadly some of us were struggling with altitude , so we deiced to take it easy and only went to see the market. The market was amazing!

Our driver gave us an hour and a half, my only wish would have been to have an extra 1/2 hour, so that we could really explore the market.
We had lunch at Ulrika's cafe. Although service was slow, the food was brilliant. and the place had a really layed back atmosphere.

We finished off our day in Ollantaytambo and ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Blue Magic. The prices were reasonable and the food tasted super good.

Peru Day 1- Lima

For our first full day in Lima, We wanted to take things slowly so that we could recover from the journey. We only planned two events.

The first was to go on a cycling tour of Mirafloras and Barranco. The company we went with was 'bike tours of Lima'. I was extremely impressed with this tour. It was safe, informative and a fun way to see and explore a small part of Lima. I was worried that the tour may be a bit strenuous, however it was far from it.

The route we took, used mostly well established bicycle lanes and the tour guide went at a leisurely pace.

Sadly by the end of the tour one member of our group was really struggling with jet lag, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a while, with the hope that this would give them time to recover.
As I said before, we had planned two activities for the day. The other activity was to go to the Circuito Magico. However this wasn't possible due to us not wanting to leave the member of our group who was struggling with jet lag. Therefore we all had an early night, which wasn't a bad thing as we had an early start the next day.