Machu Picchu, hot springs etc.

This weekend´s been a bit mental. Went to teach the children in Cincinaro (not sure if I spelt that right) on Saturday, then had cocktails at Helen´s restaurant which were awesome, although apparently one drink out here equals three at a lower altitude, and those cocktails were quite alcoholic! But it was all fine. Heather, Becca and I got up ridiculously early on Sunday and did a tour of the Sacred Valley which involved about three hours of hiking uphill and around Inca ruins. It was intense but the views were absolutely amazing and definitely worth it, the guide told some really interesting stories about the various places as well. I took so many photos I had to pick up an emergency memory card in Ollatambo (I really can´t remember how to spell these place names)!
We got a train that night to Aguas Calientes, it was the comfiest train ever, there was masses of leg room. It´s basically a tourist train that takes tourists to Machu Picchu. We got to the hostel at about 9pm, didn´t really get a chance to look round the town because it was so dark and we were so tired after the Sacred Valley tour. It was really warm though, not like Cuzco, but I think that´s because it´s at a lot lower altitude. We spent the night at the hostel and got up ridiculously early (again) to go up to visit Machu Picchu. We got a bus at about 5.45am and we were inside to watch the sun rise. It´s such a beautiful place, it´s pretty difficult to describe it. I took about 200 pictures, I´ve had to cull them a little bit, but they´re all so amazing it´s difficult to know which ones to cut! Machu Picchu is incredible, Heather and I sunbathed on the edge of a cliff after we finished our 2hr15minute tour while Becca went to get some water and chocolate (I came prepared with water and cereal bars, so I was alright), a tiny bottle of water costs 10soles, which is about 2 pounds, not too expensive for a touristy English place but normally you can get a bottle of water for 2soles so in comparison the price is ridiculous.
We stayed at Machu Picchu for about 6 hours, walking around looking at stuff, sunbathing and walking up to the guard tower to get the classic Machu Picchu postcard photo. We left at about 12.30, had lunch and then went back to the hostel. Me and Heather then went to the natural hot springs while Becca slept, we were in there for about an hour, the water was lovely and warm. We met a strange Venezualan couple that we thought invited us for dinner but we weren´t really sure, in fact Becca, Heather and I had a pretty horrible dinner at a quite expensive restaurant but apparently that´s normal in Aguas Calientes because it´s so touristy, it made us a bit homesick for Cuzco though!
We got back to Cuzco ridiculously early (again...) this morning on the 5.35am train from Aguas Calientes. Got back to the hostel at about 9.30am, and almost immediately I got into the hostel I felt really ill and had to go straight to bed with a hot water bottle, slept for about 40minutes and read for an hour but still felt awful after taking two 500 mg painkillers, so Becca got Helen to call the doctor out for me. But after a couple more hours I felt much better, so I decided I didn´t need the doctor anymore. Heather has a bit of a cold as well so we´re not exactly Healthy Central over here in South America. But I think all the early mornings have been catching up with us, we´re having a rest day today which is really nice, just going to stay in tonight with a dvd and chill out.
I have now added to my attractive white fluffy hat and alpaca socks with "tourist trousers", black and white stripy linen trousers that everyone wears out round here (in various colours). They are truly for the fashion-conscious and should definitely be adopted as a "new look" for British wintertime. It´s SO cold here still, we´re considering renting a heater for the room which will be nice!
Tomorrow there´s more spanish school, but we get a lie in in the morning, and on Thursday I start my placement, me and Heather are both working at Marco´s, I´m so excited! I want to go back and visit Wilson soon as well.
much love to everyone
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx