The last day of trekking in the sacred valley of the incas was of course a visit to one of the contemporary seven wonders of the world: Machu Picchu. The holiest of inca sacred sites, this was where the pilgrims finished their purifying journey after having been slightly damp in Pisac, cleansed in Ollataytambo and utterly scrubbed (spiritually speaking, of course) in Machu Picchu.The holy site was abandoned when the incas heard rumours of Pizarro and his band approaching, and the Spaniards never found it. Eventually it was rediscovered in 1911, by that time a barely visible stone collection, overgrown with vegetation and near impossible to spot with the naked eye.Happily chanting 'Machu, Machu Picchu' to the tune of 2 Unlimited's classic eurotechno hit of the early '90's, we got a guided two-hour tour of the royal area, the astronomy section and the religious bits, before feasting on our packed lunch of tuna and rum. Some of us set sail for Sungate, Bloody Sungate in the pouring rain, but soon enough there was high time to head to the little town of Aguas Calientes, from where our train would leave. Cold and damp we found a little restaurant that served us hot chocolate and rum and we came up with drinking names for the entire group. After a few revisions the complete list looked as down further.We arrived back in Cusco close to midnight, and everyone buggered off to bed, to be rested for next night's big dress-up party, to which we were supposed to come dressed as anything beginning with the same letter as their firs name. A big brekkie was consumed, after which we set out to the dodgy 'burbs, where some of us payed football against the locals. I tended the hooliga section along with Katherine and the Danes, and soon it was high time to get masquerade supplies. As the Irish and I also were in charge for next day's eatery, some grocery shopping needed to be done.I bought a black shirt, used its collar support as a priest's collar, fashioned a Holey Babble from a pocket book, some red paper and a gold pen, and headed for the party as Martin the Minister (or possibly missionary). People had put mind and effort into their costumes, and best was probably Ben, dressed up as baños (Spanish for bathroom), complete with floating pieces of feces made from painted insulation. Pat the Painter and Doug the Doctor were in character all night, and played their roles brilliantly. My babble quotes were a constant source of amusement (or possibly annoyance) and fun was had by all, especially Kate. The characters of those who went partying are listed along with their drinking names.Guinness at Paddy's, me trying to sell my crappy compact camera for booze, dancing at the bar desk, all the hallmarks of a good party, and not a single thought on the ten hour truck ride, debarking time 6 o'clock the next day. Just as it's supposed to be.
- Catherine the Catburglar – Caprinha
- Gill – Gin
- Renate the Rastafari – Pina Renata
- Tim the Tai Chi Guy – Tim Collins
- Lars the Loco – Lars orders
- Martin the Minister – Martini
- Cillian the Cactus – Kilkenny
- Cholong the Cat – Cholong Island Ice Tea
- Patricia the Painter – Pastisia
- Bernard the Buddy – Pernard
- Clare the Cowgirl – Bloody Clary
- Ross – Vino Rosso
- Anki – AnKir Royale
- Doug (the elder) the Doctor – Hair of the doug
- Doug (the youngest) the Devil – Dougle vodka
- Kate the Karate Kid – Cate of beer
- Mel the Mary– Single mel whisky
- Ben the Baños – Bender
- Lea the Leopard – Sanlea
- Maja the Mayan – Majito
- Rolfie – Rolfcardi
- Fernando – Fernlandia
- Smithy – Smithwick's
- Cameron – C. Grande
- Megan – Megan another one