Monday 11th May
We were a team member down already by this morning. Carol was really ill and it looked unlikely that she would be out of the hospital anytime soon, and therefore she'd be unable to complete the trek with us.
Breakfast was pancakes, omelettes, bread and fruit. Everyone was up really early as we were still feeling the British time, but as we needed to be up early anyway throughout the trek we weren't too worried. The bedroom was freezing overnight so we'd ended up sleeping in our thermals!
We got another coach at 9.30am to Pisaq, a pretty little market town where we spent a few hours over lunch. On the way we stopped off at a couple of photographic points up in the mountains, the first being next to the big Jesus statue looking over Cusco. Later on during the journey we could see parts of the mountains from a distance that we would be climbing in the coming days. The general beauty of the landscape was outstanding, and something that I doubt we will ever have the privilege of experiencing again. To get to Pisaq, the coach travelled over a height of 4200m, so we could feel briefly what it was like to be at an even higher altitude without actually walking it. Everyone seemed to cope with it ok. Simon eating the local delicacy!
On the return journey the coach dropped some of us at the Jesus statue, to walk down the hill back to the hotel. Our duffel bags were waiting for us, ready to be packed and weighed for the trek tomorrow. Most people were just about on the dot at 8kg! Our day bags that we carry ourselves seemed to be quite heavy but everything left in them was absolutely essential! Dinner was at 7pm again - another buffet. We headed off to bed straight after to try and get a good night's sleep before the beginning of the real adventure! At this stage we were told that Carol would definitely not be joining us, and it looked as though Fran may have had to stay behind too. Nerves started to kick in for everyone, but we were just super excited and couldn't wait to start! |
On a mountain overlooking Cusco
Simon and Glenn tried the ultimate local delicacy - guinea pig! (It later returned to haunt Simon a little when he visited the toilet!) Teri tried a bit of the meat but didn't think much of it! They literally put the guinea pigs into the oven and then they arrive on your plate whole! We preferred to take the safer option of cheese pastries and soup at another cafe. Pisaq itself is around 2800m above sea level, so everyone felt a lot better being at the lower altitude. It was here that we bought a few small gifts to bring home with us, although there wasn't much choice in the types of items being sold. Everything was handmade and quite sweet, and it was a case of haggling down to prices as low as possible; Matt's never seen me be so ruthless over approximately 40p!!! Pisaq, surrounded by mountains
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