Cuzco and the lonliest night so far...

It became very apparent about 3 hours into the trip to Cuzco that something was wrong, and beyond cursing the name of the lying travel agent that promised me the bus would have a toilet, there was little I could do till I got to Cuzco and found Loki. Once there I was registered as staff straight away (many thanks to my friends in La Paz who made this possible), and actually started to feel better meeting my new work mates and mixing with the residents. The hostel seemed very nice and the bar exciting and fun to work in. What little I had seen of the town was beautiful and I was excited to have arrived. I had a fairly early night due to a tender tummy, which became an incredibly tender tummy by 2am, and by late the next day it became obvious a doctor was going to have to be called. Taken into hospital on Monday I spent the night having been diagnosed with a parasite and gastroenteritis. Being taken into hospital is something of a backpackers worst fear, having to seek medical help in a third world country never being the dream. In actual fact the hospital was very clean, the nurses friendly and professional, my doctor fluent in English and I had sky tv, my mobile phone and access to a laptop. And a huge bonus was that the staff handled my insurance claim for me so I didn't have to pay anything and had only a 5 minute phonecall to make the next day. While I would never recommend hospital in Peru I would have to say it was a long way off my worst fears realised.
That said, the night was long and lonely, and exceptionally painful in parts, and I will never be able to thank my mum enough for sitting through the night with me sending regular texts to keep me company. For no matter how grown up an exotic traveller I am, that night I blimming well wanted my mum.
I was discharged yesterday afternoon and spent most of the day in bed. Today I've been for a short walk around what does indeed seem to be a gorgeous city but was suprised at how incredibly weak I feel and could only manage an hour. I know it will take a little while to recover from such a nasty illness and so I'm looking forward to exploring Cuzco in bitesize chunks, and starting my first shift tomorrow. Glad this happened now when I've got 4 weeks to recover for my Inca Trail!! And in the words of my father, I guess I mustn't fuss as its just 'standard travellers fare'!
Another experience marked off on the list. Another one of a million reasons to be thankful to my amazing mum. Another city to (eventually) explore. And another bar to work behind.
Bring on Cuzco...