Cusco

The first couple of days in and around Cusco have been fantastic and quite different to Ecuador. the differences started as soon as we got to the hotel at Lima with everyone speaking quite good English (very few people spoke English in Ecuador). We were quite surprised to be picked up at the airport in Cusco by virtually the whole travel agency running the tour. While the tours are under the Kumuka name they are organised and run by local agencies. In Ecuador it was Happy Gringos (couldn´t fault them for any else looking to do anything at all in Ecuador) and here in Peru it is SASPeru. Robin, an Australian who has lived here for 11 years is part owner of the agency and she met us along with a driver, a porter and our guide, Paull. Paull is a local and an absolute wealth of knowledge about Inca and Spannish history. The girls have been informed that this tour is to be treated as a history lesson to make up for lost school. They are not impressed! Again we are the only people on the tour which is a pity and again apparently we are the first to this particular tour as well.
Yesterday we just wandered around Cusco which is a booming town of about 400,000 and a mecca for every type of tourist. It is backpacker heaven with cheap hostels, food and beer but also caters to a significant sector of more wealthy tourists with very upmarket jewellery, garment and art shops. The city is architecturally stunning which the Spannish style closed courtyards and tiny cobbled streets leading away from beautiful leafy plazas with impressive cathedrals and churches. Walking up the tiny alleys every door leads into a cafe or courtyard or hostal or shop. Like Ecuador once you get away from the central areas there is grinding poverty but it is amazing how much of a difference the housing style makes in disguising the extent. in Ecuador as I mentioned most housing seems to be constructed with grey concrete blocks with flat roofs and a perpetually unfinished look. In Cusco the houses are adobe brick with red tile sloped roofs. While there is just as much poverty somehow the houses look more inhabitable. I guess it is just closer to what we are used to.
Today Paull led us on a horse ride around four Inca sites in the mountains overlooking cusco. The history was a bit overwhelming to take in one day but the ruins were fascinating. Massive constructions made of huge stone blocks that fit together perfectly in intricate patterens all in a grand plan that made sure that water was able to be fed by gravity throughout all the significant sites. It was truly awe inspiring to think about how such feats were carried out 600 years ago and the girls were suitably impressed wishing that they could have seen it when it was at its peak.
For lunch we had a picnic with a herd of Alpacas that had been organised especially for the occaision. Being the first family to do this tour I think they are trying to get some goood phots and all the stops are being pulled out.
We wandered back down into cusco at about 5pm.
tommorrow we head off to the sacred valley for more inca sites and some markets.
I´ll try and get some more photos up next time i get to a wireless spot for my laptop.