Here´s some photos of things you may have wanted to see over the past few days. This is the view from Saqsaywaman.
These are LLAMAS!
Here you can see Cusco's Plaza de Armas.
Monday morning. Apparently I have snored all night. Then I think I have lost my wallet. It was under my little bluetooth keyboard. That is how today started.
It's still cold here. My shoulder is still crap no matter how many pills I swallow. Perhaps I ought to give up blogging too. But then I might lose the only connection I have with the rest of the world.
And Spanish keyboards - so many keys in places I just don't need them.
Onto the phone to Belfast Passport Office yet again. Hello to Andrea:
Me: I'm really sorry that you're the person who's going to hear this, but I'm getting really angry with being ignored. I phoned Thursday week ago and received no reply from Peterborough, my girlfriend phoned on Thursday past and has received no reply to the emergency email sent, I feel we're just being ignored.
Andrea: I understand how you feel (NOT YOU DON'T ANDREA, YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IN THIS SITUATION BEFORE), but its still within 72 hours for Peterborough to respond to your emergency email, and I can't flag up the non-response to your email from 11 days ago because then there would be two escalation emails in the system. And why did you send your application to Peterborough, it's Durham that deals with overseas applications.
Me (frustration growing): Because the Peterborough address was the only address mentioned on the application form. Ok, well in that case what happens tomorrow if Peterborough have still not gotten back to me?
Andrea: I can't deal with hypothetical situations.
God help the person who answers the phone to Sarah tomorrow, and to the person who received the email from Willie McCrea MP.
Not to mention that, but we receive hot water and bread for breakfast. No JAM. No BUTTER. BREAD. It is like someone has lit a small fire underneath Sarah.
At least I can finally withdraw cash from my N&P account.
Our bags are packed and we go to pay. A new lady has appeared and we hand over PNS$132. She asks if everything was ok.
Cue 'New Sarah'.
Suddenly we are being reimbursed PNS$42 and receiving earnest apologies. It turns out Inversiones Siete Angelitos is up for sale owing to having no guests whatsoever. In fact, 'the boys' were on their way over that moment to evaluate it. 'Does that explain why there is no hot water, no heat, no breakfast, just damp and cold?' asks the plucky girl from Nutts Corner. Apparently it does. Her disgruntlement works wonders.
Out the door we go and in search of breakfast. A taxi pulls up alongside us and we jump in, I assume we can get breakfast near the little mini-van depot we are going to. Naturally I am wrong. We end up in a little cafe at 10.10am, me with a bowl of caldo de gallina and arroz a la cubana (a striking breakfast treat of boiled white rice, fried banana, chips, and a fried egg on top). Mmmmmm. Sarah has a Tayto Cheese n Onion bap or two.
I am sad to leave Cusco. It has been a while now since we have had to take a bus anywhere. I have gotten out of the habit and the idea of travelling for a couple of hours is depressing me. This, however, is not a regular bus journey. Ollantaytambo is not served by a proper bus company, instead you take a little servicio, or mini-van, to get there. These hang around on Avenida Grau until they are full, then all the passengers split the cost at PNS$10 a head, which is a bargain. Unless, of course, you don't like the idea of a mini-van with your rucksack on the roof whizzing round mountainsides without railings, in which case you will be petrified. Like Sarah.
It is one of the most beautiful journeys I have ever taken in my life. The Sacred Valley is handsome, green hills stretching up to the sky, somehow with a backdrop of snow-covered peaks. It is what I imagine Switzerland looks like. But better.
We pass through a couple of places (Chinchero, Urubamba) that I am delighted we have chosen to leave out. Suddenly we are driving up a cobblestone road, impossibly narrow. This is Ollantaytambo. Out we jump at the Plaza de Armas and into the Hostel Inti Killa (pizzeria to the side, nice!)
We have a private room, we have hot water, we have a private bathroom, we have a stone pizza oven. Life has improved dramatically in the past couple of hours. Then we visit the rooftop terrace. The view is really a bit incredible.
A quick walk around the square, a tasty lunch in a Mexican restaurant, a wander down the the edge of the ruins, look at some prucky stalls, back up to the square, a decent coffee whilst Sarah phones home, suddenly its 6pm. Now its 7pm. What on earth could happen this evening? Who knows, but I do know one thing: the internet in Ollantaytambo isn't exactly fast!
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