Cusco, Peru

Jane is writing this blog as Robin is currently on the Inca trail. I, being lazy and unfit have opted to spend three extra days in Cusco, a beautiful city with lots to do (and this internet cafe!)

We´ve been here in Peru since 20th May, we arrived in Lima then travelled by bus, stopping en route to visit Inca sites, to Arequipa, then flew from there to Cusco last Sunday 29th. Many of the group, including Robin, suffered 'Inca belly' en route, but all OK now. The flight from Arequipa was uneventful (and amazing views of the Andes) but just after we landed flames shot out of the right engine. The fire engine, which looked like Thunderbird 2, turned up and we had to sit on the tarmac for several minutes while lots of men in orange vests looked worried. Eventually we were towed to the gate and allowed to get off. The funny thing was that there was then an announcement 'all those who are going on to Juliaca please stay in your seats'!

The more northern part of Peru is desert, but this southern part is very beautiful, full of green valleys and small villages and towns surrounded by the snow-capped Andes. We have already visted lots of Inca sites, I will meet up with the trekkers at Macchu Picchu on Sunday afternoon. I will get there by train (with our tour guide) which I am looking forward to very much. The trekkers have gone with 2 local guides/porters per trekker, plus cook/assistant cooks etc! They will be camping so have all taken their thermal undies to sleep in! I am sure the photos will be amazing.

Sorry for the absence of photos in this post, I´ve not been able to connect my camera to this PC. And for the big gap - our RV trip through the USA. I hope we will be able to catch up with that at some time. We have hundreds of photos. My favourite of the National Parks I think was Bryce Canyon (google it for amazing photos of the 'hoodoos' if you have time), but Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches National Park, etc were all very enjoyable, as was, in particular San Francisco - we cycled over the Golden Gate bridge. What wasn´t was the amount of distance we had to travel, we seriously underestimated it and did more than 4,000 miles in the end! The RV we had did only about 10 miles to the gallon too, and rattled and bumped the whole way! The wildlife was a highlight of the trip, we say buffalo, elk and deer in Yellowstone (easy to spot in the snow and when they are standing in the middle of the road!), but sadly (or maybe not) no bears. In San Francisco and then all down the pacific coast we saw pelicans, and near Malibu we saw sealions. Also lots of other birds, but I can´t remember their names - Robin has some good pics. My favourite so far is a tiny hummingbird - and the pelicans because they look so elegant and graceful when they fly. Oh and we saw condors here in Peru, in the Colca Canyon. Condors are very important to the Peruvians because they represent the realm of the sky. Time up here, so I'll sign off.