Cuzco

Still feeling very flat and tired today, but not wanting to miss out on anything, I soldiered on....

Simon had planned a 8km walk, starting from some ruins in the hills above Cuzco and ending back in town.

Taxis dropped us out to Tambomachay and we walked around the ruins there before picking up a mountain track. We meandered over hills trying to find a spot which was 4000m high. Unfortunately, we never found one, but we got tantalisingly close. It was beautiful walking in the mountains away from the city. 

I was walking quite slowly, not because of the altitude, but because I was feeling so fatigued from the virus.

We headed downhill and stopped for an early lunch break at about 1130.

Simon then led us down in the direction of Sacsaywuman, but stumbled across another site. The lads couldn't resist the opportunity to explore the large number of caves.

We continued the downhill path, through a eucalypt forest and then found a small site, Quenko, located above Sacsaywuman. By now, I was really plodding and was feeling very frustrated with myself and for the group. A guide showed us around Quenko for about 30 mins and then we continued down to Sacsaywuman. We admired the Sacsaywuman ruins - amazing sight with some rocks 8.5m tall. Simon read the history of the site to us from Peter Frost's book. Fascinating story.

 

We were all in need of refreshments, so we headed into town in search of the bakery we had visited yesterday. Eventually we found it and even I had a danish pastry and a hot chocolate. We ended up walking a lazy 15km today!

Upon returning to the hotel, I had a nap and woke feeling a little better. We had dinner at the same restaurant we had visited the first night in Cuzco. I had a lamb shank, hoping that some red meat might help fortify my immune system....