No laughing cows

We have spent the last few days back in Cusco, almost feeling like locals. The weather turned....now in 2 months we have had 2 whole days of rain... How awful !.

We visited the natural history museum and the museum of the palace of religious arts....both excellent.

We revisited the market to avoid the rain....

A chicken stall

Fruit and veg

Laughing cows faces???

Dish of the day 4 soles or £1 for 3 courses

Lots of people thought this a good offer....

Daddy getting excited about flowers to buy for mummy...

This shop reminded us about a friend at home !!

Dad pretended to enjoy the guinea pig he ate for tea.

Whilst Lucas pretended he looked like Mick Jagger....

The flight from Cusco to Lima was nearly 2 hrs late, wonderful ........actually it resulted in us very nearly missing our flight home! We originally had 3 hrs at Lima airport...our flight, being late, left us with about an hour. Whilst Dad and Lyra waited for baggage, Lucas and Mum ran through to check in, they said we had 12 minutes to check in....2 minutes to go still no Dad and Lyra...Mum ran back to get their passports and the ONE bag that had come through....now with the gate closed and Mum pleading with the desk, Dad and Lyra finally get there! Of course that was only check in...we had immigration and security to get through...the last words of the check in staff still ringing in our ears....RUN!

Immigration - we were allowed in the priority lane as there were two children- but the fact that we had travelled overland from Bolivia caused the system some problems - computer says no!... Eventually we made it and now we are sitting in Amsterdam waiting for our 15th flight, back to the UK. PHEW

 

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Orchids and spectacled bears, 26th August.

The hotel we are staying in funds and runs an Andean bear (spectacled bear) reintroduction programme. These bears (on which Paddington bear is based) are an endangered species and the programme aims to rescue them from captivity/ circuses etc, take them to the centre and slowly attempt to reintroduce them to the wild. There are various pens, culminating in a 6 hectare semi- captivity pen which is the precursor to release. Unfortunately not all bears will make it back to the wild, some are so old they cannot be retrained. We took a trip out to visit the programme.

The males can grow up to 2m.

The centre is situated in some stunning cloud forest, in walking distance from the hotel.

Later, We went out with a ranger to look around the cloud forest. The altitude is perfect for orchids.

These are related to bird of paradise flowers

A chestnut breasted hummingbird.

A spider orchid.

Lyra doing her David Attenborough impersonation...

A glass winged butterfly.

This orchid is called 'you will cry' or princess of the sun!

One of the smallest orchids in the world.

Ending the day with a ridiculously large chocolate pudding.

 

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Machu Picchu 25th August.

It was Lucas's birthday today, so he opened a few presents we had smuggled with us before breakfast. 8 years old and off to Machu Picchu ! It is difficult to know what to write about Machu Picchu - so much has been written before, so many superlatives, so many accolades.....

Lucas enjoying the morning.

We took the bus from MPPueblo up the rough stone switchbacks , through the cloud forest to arrive at the entrance. It had been raining in the morning so we delayed our trip to lunchtime - a good choice as the cloud broke up as we arrived and the sun came out. It was busy as expected, but not as busy as we feared.

The iconic views were stunning.

We walked to the Inca bridge, along a narrow path with sheer drops. We were rewarded with a very rare sight here - a condor flying in the valley below.. The guide could not believe it.

A condor - that made our day even better!

Lyra and Lucas hearing off towards Inca bridge

Admiring the view

Wow

Lucas too close for comfort!

It is hard to stop admiring the views

...or stop taking photos

As Lucas said.... an awesome day!

.....topped off with a cake from the hotel when we returned for dinner.

Perfect.

 

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Off to Machu Picchu Pueblo on the vistadome train 24th August

We got up early and took a taxi to Poroy where we boarded the train at 6 am. The train travelled through fantastic scenery on the way through the Urubamba valley. On one section the train reversed down a major switchback, so we got to see some scenery twice!

Some dramatic views before the train arrives in Machu Picchu Pueblo

The train then drops down into the Sacred Valley and follows the river into the increasingly steep and forested valley until it arrives at Machu Picchu Pueblo, a small town a short bus ride from the famous ruins. The town is nestled in the valley bottom on the RHS.

It was pouring with rain when we arrived, so we jumped straight in the hot tub.

Shelagh and Dave tried a saunas in a straw hut whilst Lyra and Lucas did a treasure hunt around the grounds - 12 hectares of cloud forest!

Lucas inspecting the sauna

Lyra enjoyed the outdoor shower

 

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Horses and holes

Yesterday we walked up out of Cusco to Cristo Blanco, a large white statue of Christ that stands on a hill overlooking Cusco. There is a fantastic view out over the city.

The main plaza as seen from the top

Shelagh reading up on the adjacent archaeological site - saqsaywaman!

Today we took the local bus up to the top of the hill and went horse riding.

We visited a sacred huaca off the beaten track - Salapunco, also known as the temple of the moon.

The kids atop Salapunco

Lyra resting at the top

Off again...

We walked through a 'labyrinth', where, apparently, Incas hid from the Spanish whilst Cusco was attacked.

We squeezed through a number of caves, some a bit to tight for comfort

 

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