Machu Picchu.... Isn't the only amazing thing Cusco has to offer.

Hola! 

I am currently writing this post from the most comfy night bus I have ever taken on the way to Arequipa. It was really sad to say goodbye to Cusco and the wonderful people I have met there but I'm excited to be on the move again and ready to explore another beautiful place. 

Since I last wrote a post I have had my final week volunteering at Aldea Yanapay. The kids were crazy and adorable in equal measures and we created the end of week show all about water pollution in Peru. It's been such an amazing experience to be part of and it was really great to be involved in a project with children again to remind me how much I enjoy working with people. 

In the mornings we mostly relaxed or walked around the city as the afternoons were so tiring. One day AK and I walked to the San Blas district which is an area full of cute coffee shops, boutiques, hotels and restaurants. We stumbled across a French run creperie and how could I resist? Afterwards we went to a market and had a huge fresh juice for 5 soles (about £1).

On Saturday I had a day trip booked to see the Rainbow Mountain. The site was only opened as a tourist destination recently but now sees hundreds of people visit every day. I was really excited and prepared for the difficult high altitude trek it would take to get there and set off with the minivan at 4am. We got to our breakfast stop and the guide received some phone calls telling him that the roads to rainbow mountains had been blocked off by local farmers who were protesting the high levels of traffic and the effect it was having on their crops. Our guide told us that there was an alternative site we could go to instead and, feeling disappointed, we set off again. Saturday also happened to be the day my dad and Sally were celebrating their wedding in the UK and so I forked out for some data and face timed the family in the bus while they were eating a delicious three course meal in Ascot which was quite surreal. 

As we drove the landscape got more and more alien, with red terraced mountains and alpacas grazing where ever you looked. When we arrived at the site I couldn't believe my eyes. This place had not just one rainbow coloured mountain but at least three dotted around this almost martian valley. We were free to walk around the site for 2 and a half hours and I had to pick my jaw off the floor on multiple occasions. I climbed to the highest point from which you can see the snow capped Andes all around and a panorama of the rainbow valley. I facetimed my family again trying to show them how beautiful the place was but I think bad signal meant they probably just saw a blur and heard a very excited Emma trying to explain what she was seeing. We left just as it began to snow and stopped at a couple of lakes on the way back to Cusco. 

Sunday was my day to relax and get ready for my four day trek to Machu Picchu. I went to a briefing that evening and met my group, 9 French doctors in training. On Monday morning I was picked up at 5am and we drove via some breakfast to our starting point. The first day we walked along an Incan Canal and then up to our canpsite for some lunch and a siesta before ascending up the steep slope to reach Humantay Lake, a vast turquoise glacial lake. 

After spending a while exploring we returned to the camp and played cards until dinner was ready, which was absolutely delicious.

The following day we got up 5am to begin our climb to the tallest point of the trek, Salkantay Pass. The walk was difficult but offered gorgeous views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. We reached the pass after a few hours of walking and celebrated before going off the beaten track a bit to visit another glacial lake where our guide Ricardo explained the Incan traditional beliefs about mother earth (Pacha Mama). 

We walked for a few more hours down to a lower altitude and our second campsite where we treated ourselves to a beer and a hot shower and got to play with some cute dogs. That evening we played a drinking game with the whole group and ate another delicious dinner before bed. It rained really heavily that night and I was very grateful our tents had been set up under a roofed structure, another reason I loved the travel agent I chose. 

The next morning was another 5am start to walk into the jungle. The landscape was completely different to the previous days and much hotter. We saw a lot of colourful flowers and medicinal plants which Ricardo pointed out.  After about 5 hours of walking we had ceviche for lunch and then were picked up by a minivan and taken to a place near Machu Picchu called Hydroelectrica where we started a three hour walk through jungle along a train track which seemed to go on forever. 

When we arrived to our final accommodation in Aguas Callientes we had a quick rest then visited the hot springs which were a bit of a disappointment but nice to be able to soak our aching muscles before our final ascent to Machu Picchu the next day. 

For our final day we left our accommodation at 3:45am (!) and walked to the entrance gate of Machu Picchu national park. We waited in a queue until 5am and when we got to the front the French guys realised that Ricardo had not given them their tickets. I already had mine so I set off alone up the steep steps for 50 minutes watching the sun start to rise through the misty mountains, until the entrance to Machu Picchu itself where I was one of the first in the queue. The French group were not far behind and we all entered together. When we got to the area where you can take the typical postcard photo the whole area was covered in a thick fog, although we were in high spirits despite this as we had finally made it!! 

We sat with Ricardo as he gave us the history of the site, which was built by the Incans before being abandoned when the Spanish arrived. It was then not 'discovered' again until 1911 when a historian from Yale university set about trying to find the mythical lost Incan city. On one expedition he asked a young boy if he had ever seen anything matching the description of Machu Picchu and the kids said 'oh yeah, my family live there'. Turns out that a couple of farming families had been living in the ruins but soon the historian and his team had visited and taken many of the precious artefacts found there back to Yale with them (classic) and were locking horns with the Peruvian government over ownership of the site. The site itself is magical, with many stone structures still standing despite multiple earthquakes. The skies cleared throughout the day and finally we got to see that infamous view. 

We said goodbye to Ricardo and then I separated from the French group who had an earlier bus to catch back in Hydroelectrica. I however had one final challenge to overcome. Yes after four days of nearly none-stop walking I had decided it was a good idea to climb Machu Picchu Mountain, another 652 metres up from Machu Picchu. The climb was really difficult, especially in the increasing temperature, and the steps were unbelievably steep at some points but, thanks to a great playlist of Spotify and a bit of determination, I reached the top and was treated to an incredible view of the whole mountain range including Machu Picchu which looked tiny from up there. 

The walk down was actually harder than going up because by that point my knees were really sore and every step was more and more diffcult. 

When I got back to aguas callientes I hobbled through town and found a restaurant where I treated myself to a coke and a cheesy quesadilla. I caught the train most of the way back to Cusco, which was really luxurious and gave me the chance to see some more beautiful landscapes. We had to catch a taxi back to cusco for the last hour and a half of the journey which I found pretty terrifying as the taxi driver was chewing coca leaves the whole journey and got progressively faster and faster going round the endless corners. I was very happy to arrive back in Cusco in one piece and understandably slept a LOT that night. 

The next day I decided to go and get a massage, which turned out to be the best decision and I felt amazing afterwards. The next couple of days I relaxed more, went to watch the sunset over the city and drank some pisco sours with the other volunteers who were leaving. 

So that's my time in Cusco finished! Going to book my trip to see the Colca Canyon near Arequipa and see what else there is to discover now :) 

Thanks for reading!