The Fallen Angels

Well after our hard work on the Inca Trail and our time at Machu Picchu it was a 4 hour trip back to Cuzco (2 hours on a train and 2 on a bus). On arriving back at our hostal we were met by our guide Mark who had acquired some free passes to a nightclub if anybody was interested, everybody was up for it to celebrate our trek even though we had been up since 4am that morning.

The nightclub turned out to be quite an eye opener with some of the strangest decor seen since willy wonka opened it´s doors to the 5 lucky golden ticket holders. Many of the tables where old baths with a glass tabletops, inside the baths goldfish swam amongst the rocks and plants. There was also some large brass beds being used for seating and the DJ box looked as if the DJ was inside an aquarium. One toilet had broken mirrors and the other was decorated with barbed wire and roses painted in grey - you had to be a bit careful turning around quickly in that one.

One of the funniest things to be seen in the Fallen Angel that Satuday night was Dawn with her Cagoul zipped right up with a wooly hat on and everybody else in t-shirts. Dawn and Mark are a real nice couple who come from Norfolk (well someone has to, and they don´t even seem that backwards!!!. One thing you will no doubt hear from Dawn within at least 10 minutes of meeting her is "BBBBbbbrrrr it´s freezing... Mark heat me up!!!!!!!".

Another 6 of the group come from in and around Derby, ( Sharpy, Matt , Ross (Tubbsy), Jenny, Jane and Stephanie), these guys have been travelling for a while together and have been to Japan, Oz and New Zealand already on this trip. The three guys did the Inca Trail and kept us amused whith their endless stream of toilet humour, but Sharpy and Matt do seem a lot quieter once their girlfriends Jane and Jenny are around. Mean while in the club a drag artist dressed as Carmen Miranda appeared to sing a few songs, word soon got around that Sharpy was missing and that he was last seen trying on a bowl of fruit and the two were never seen in the room at the same time.

The three drinks for two offer also meant that most of us where buying too many drinks and pretty soon casualties where falling away quick and fast.. (it´s ok Helena we won´t mention your drunken outburst). A good crowd of us managed to keep going until the early hours and to beat the 24 Hour Challenge before deciding to head to Mama Africas because we were the last one´s left in the Fallen Angel.

Once in Mama Africas it wasn´t long before I noticed Mark sleeping on the bar, so I went up and asked if he wanted a water... his reply was another beer por favor. As Dawn had taken Helena back in a taxi a few hours back Joanne and I carried him down the stairs and got him back to the hostal (via the hamburger stands for a few morning snacks as it was after 5am now).

The next morning arrived late but we still managed to go out for breakfast before our appointment with Funny Photos at lunchtime, the idea behind Funny Photos is that they get a group of gringos and dress them up in traditional Peruvian clothes and charge them for making a fool of themselves in public. Most of the group were up for this and for some reason we all ended wearing Peruvian woman´s clothing. After having a few photos taken in the studio it was then down to the Plaza de Arms where we attracted a sizeable crowd who didn`t know whether to laugh or cry at us. Rhys forever being the shy introverted type decided to give the typical Peruvian woman´s dress a miss and plumped for the bikini/ mini skirt combo. He did get a lot of strange looks with kids openly pointing at him with their mouths wide open in amazement.



Before the Inca Trail we thought we were going to be suffering so we had booked a massage for the Sunday afternoon, to be honest we where probably more in need for a massage for our dodgy dancing the night before than our 4 day trek. This was to be my first massage and to be honest I wasn´t really looking forward to it! The first thing I heard was Joanne´s back make an almighty crack and I suddenly realsised that I wish I had just spent the money in the bar across the street and relaxed that way. After an hour of being proddded, stretched, and battered it was all over and once again it was an experience I would be in no hurry to repeat just like the horse riding.

After the previous nights antics most of us just got take away pizzas and headed back to our rooms to watch movies, it wasn´t the quickest pizzas but they did give us a few pisco sours and garlic bread to tide us over.

Next day we wandered about Cuzco going to a few more Museums and at last getting into see the magnificent Cathedral, inside there were hundreds of amazing paintings and fantastic carved wooden altars and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. Another place to visit is Mandelas Bar which serves some of the finest sandwiches in South America and has some great views over the Cuzco rooftops.

For our last night in Cuzco it was to be a return to the Fallen Angel, not for the club but to the top class restaurant which it hosts during the week. Both Joanne and myself had a few cocktails and excellent steaks whilst sitting watching the goldfish swim about under our plates in the bathtub below. We then ended up back in Paddys for a few drinks with Mark our guide as this was his last night in Cuzco (this is his last tour as he´s heading back to England for a knee operation).



We then found out it was going to be Tubbsy´s birthday at 12 o´clock so it looked like it was going to be another long night as we headed to Mama Africa´s (Joanne & Helena had managed to get an extra 8 free drink vouchers between themselves as well as everyone getting one for themselves in the way in). Once inside the madness soon descended as we persuaded the band to let Tubbsy accompany them on bongos, before Mark arranged for him to be given the dentist chair treatment on the bar, this wasn´t a brilliant idea as soon as he had his treatment he was running across the dancefloor to the toilets to bring the whole mixture back up.

Next morning most people where feeling less than 100% on the bus and where quite glad to catch up with a few hours sleep.