street stalls

 

 

 

 

There are heaps of street stalls in Cusco, selling all kinds of food  and drinks. Cactus fruits, quail eggs, bread, cakes, roasted bananas/sweet potatoes, all sort of fruits and also chicha. We are not game enough to any of these...don't think we ever will.

no posts for the past few days

Hi. We just got back from the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and hence no new posts for the past few days. Sorry... Please check back in the next couple of days for our latest posts/developments!

linda is finally down...

Finally!! Less than a week before we head off for our Machu Picchu Inca Trail, I am down with parasites!!! Alvin is so proud to be the last man standing...he might still have 'something' in him but his immune system is coping with it. So many people are down with acute bronchitis and stomach bugs at this moment. A few were hospitalised recently and I am very thankful I wasn't in any serious condition. Don't be alarmed...nothing too serious for me. I was uncomfortable with wind in my belly for a few days and decided to get it checked up since we are leaving for Inca Trail this coming Friday. There's no way I was going to miss Machu Picchu after trying so hard to stay well and healthy for the last 7 weeks. The doctor thinks I am at the start of 'it' since I don't have any other symptoms (e.g. stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea). I had to do a poo test...it was so embarrassing...it took me more than half an hour. The results...I have Entamoeba!! Had my anti-protozoal tablets as well as a super strong antibiotics to kill any other bugs that might still be in me.

wild flowers on the machu picol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shots of wild flowers I took on the way down Machu Picol. Flowers make me happy!! There are also heaps of thorny brushes which drew blood from quite a few of us.

Linda

alvin has white hairs!!!!!!!

This is the first time I found white hair on Alvin. Two to be exact! He is a little sad...

machu picol - 4340m

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the mountain we look at from our room everyday. Every morning when we wake up and open our eyes, that's the mountain that greets us. We told ourselves that we must conquer that mountain one day and ascend to the cross on top of it We finally picked up enough courage to organise a hike up Machu Picol over the weekend. The day started with beautiful weather, not too cold or warm, just right. Twelve of us (including our guide, little Daniel, and Memo) set off with great enthusiasm and energy. The first 15 minutes were enjoyable and everyone was still laughing and chatting away. However, the joy didn't last very long once we hiked up the mountain vertically (literally)!!! We were huffing and puffing, trying to catch our breath, and the smiles left our faces. When we got close to the peak, there was no path. We were just climbing up the sheer face of the mountain vertically and clinging onto the grass, hoping that we don't miss a step and slip off the side of the mountain. Can you see the pain in our faces in one of the photos? We had to stop every 5 mins to rest and catch our breath, and kept telling ourselves that it can't be that far away if we can see the cross. By the way, Daniel the little boy didn't even puff for a second! How embarrassing... We did made it to the top of the mountain after 3 hours of very tedious hike and everyone was completely exhausted. Machu Picol is ~4300m above sea level, which means we hiked up 1000m!!! We were so proud of all of us. The views were amazing and very rewarding. It had a 360 degree view of Cusco city and the surrounding mountains. We were very surprised to find lighted candles at the foot of the cross when we got up there, which means someone hikes up this mountain daily to light the candles!!! We fully enjoyed the view from the top of Machu Picol and had a picnic. We started making our way down when dark clouds started covering over the cross. It won't be fun descending the steep slope in wet weather. Thank goodness the weather stayed fine. Descending was so much better even though it was very slippery at parts of the mountain. Enjoy the photos of our amazing hike up and down Machu Picol. By the way, Alvin's altimeter watch shows the graphical representation of our ascent and descent of Machu Picol.