Cusco: the land of the Incas

Well I am skipping a lot of my summer adventures in hopes of trying to stay somewhat caught up with my tirp that I am now on: Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. I have been waiting for and planning this trip practically since I arrived in Chile, so it is pretty awesome that it has all been able to come together :)

On the night of the 20th, I said goodbye to my Mom, Amelia and Eli. It was definitely really hard, I wasn't ready for them to leave yet. But, we had a great time while they were down here and I am so happy they got to come visit me. Then, on the night of the 21st, I headed out. Although it was hard to say goodbye to Santiago and everyone there for 5 weeks, I was really, really excited for my trip.

I first took a plane from Santiago to Lima and spent th e first night in Lima. It was quite uneventful since I only had about 12 hours I didn't really go anywhere, just to my hotel by the airport, and then back to airport in the morning. But then, I was off on the first part of my adventure: Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Flying into Cusco was gorgeous. First we crossed over the Andes, then into the valley of Cusco. Everything around the city is GREEN, that was the first thing that I noticed. And all of the roofs in the city are red, making a really nice contrast. Coming in for landing, we made a really tight turn around one of the mountains and then landed in what appeared to be the middle of the city.

My first afternoon in Cusco we didn’t do much. I took a taxi from the airport to downtown (funny story about that…I decided to take a taxi from the inside the airport since only “official taxi’s” are allowed inside the airport proper and I had heard horror stories of people being violently assaulted in taxis in Peru. But, I tried to bargain with the guy to take me for s./10 instead of the s./15 he was trying to get me to pay. He told me it would be s/12 if I went out the street for a taxi—a total lie, but that’s okay—so I just decided to pay the s./15 for my peace of mind. When we got to the Plaza de Armas, where he was taking me, I only had a s/10 bill or an s/50 bill. He didn’t have change for s/50, so after thinking for about a minute and trying to find a way to get change, he gave it to me for s/10 anyways J ) As soon as I was standing in the plaza I realized what everyone meant when they said that Cusco is a beautiful city. It really is gorgeous…all the architecture, the way the streets are laid out. Maya and I had decided we would meet in front of the church at 1pm, and it was only about 12:15, so I sat down on a bench to do some people watching. Of course, after being there for about 20 minutes, it started to rain, so I had to run over to the overhang on the edge of the Plaza and squint towards the church hoping to see Maya. Luckily, I met up with her without a problem. She was traveling with two other people: a friend from England and a friend from Australia. Both were really cool and easy to travel with, and we all had a great time.

We decided we were going to go to Machu Picchu for 2 days, leaving the on Tuesday and returning on Thursday. Monday morning we spent running around to all the different agencies getting tickets, etc (of course nothing is in the same place…) We got everything worked out, train tickets in hand, Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu tickets, hostel reservation in Aguas Calientes, taxi from Cusco to Ollyantatambo (where the train leaves from) and our “tourist ticket” for the Sacred Valley (all the other ruins and museums in and around Cusco).

We had initially been planning to hike up to a ruin called Saqusaywaman (acronym “Sexy Woman,” real meaning “Satisfied Hawk” in Quechua) but because it was so late by the time we finished everything and we were all hungry, we decided to go to museums in the city for that day and climb Saqusaywaman when we came back to Cusco. We ended up going to three museum that day: Contemporary Art, the Museum of Qoricancha (some old Incan ruins in the city) and the chocolate museum.

This is the big church I met Maya in front of. It is HUGE, and I think by far the most elegant building in all of Cusco. I didn’t actually get to go inside because you have to get a separate ticket (they charge for EVERYTHING in Cusco), but just the outside was gorgeous. Also, there are church-like buildings about every other block in Cusco (on the Plaza de Armas itself there are two), I’m not really sure why there are so many. The “real” church (aka the one that is open for masses and such) is not actually on the main plaza, it’s about a block off of it. We did get to go inside that one, and it was also really beautiful.

There were lots of interesting paintings and sculptures inside. This is one of my favorites, depicting Machu Picchu in the clouds. It looks so mysterious and hidden, and I’m sure you can you understand why it is called the “lost city” if it’s always covered in layer of clouds! (Which is was for most of the day when we were there, since it's the rainy season.)

Here is the outside of the Art Museum. It’s in a smaller plaza located about a block off the main plaza. As I said, the architecture in Cusco is amazing and this building is just one example. On top is the Incan flag (not gay pride, as all guide books tell you), which is flown next to the Peruvian flag all around the Sacred Valley.

This is the site of Qoricancha. The big black-ish wall is the remains of the wall the Incas built, the church behind is what the conquistadores built. I believe that it was a Temple of the Sun, but I’m not completely sure. Inside the museum were artifacts they had found from around the valley…including Incan mummies!

This a delicious Peruvian dish called Aji de Gallina. It is kind of like yellow curry, except thicker. Peruvian cuisine is AMAZING. So many delicious foods and flavors. And the best part? You can get a set lunch menu for s/10-15, aka $3-5, for a lot of yummy food.

On the drive from Cusco to Ollyantaytambo. We decided to hire a taxi to take us because it was only about $2 more each, and then we could go on our time schedule. the drive between the two towns was breathtaking. We drove up through mountains and all around us were green hills and deep valleys. This is just a small glance at the incredible scenary. It just seemed like everywhere we turned the landscape got even more incredible.