All trails lead to Cusco

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In Incan times, Cusco was the center of the world, and all trails did indeed lead to Cusco. So today, really, do most people who visit Peru end up sooner or later in Cusco. Why, because it is pretty damn gorgeous -- and it is the gateway to Machu Picchu. Those first two days are rough -- at 12,000 feet in altitude, you can't breath just walking up a few steps. And around here, the steps are a way to avoid the narrow streets that have almost no sidewalk. I feel lucky not to have been dinged in the ass with a side mirror. And, like many in our party, you get a headache from the altitude. A little bit of coffee and Ibuprofen did the trick for me. Bob says that coffee, aspirin and most importantly coca do the trick.

This brings up two subjects -- coffee and coca. Beware the instant coffee - its everywhere!! Or at least, that's what you might receive for your free coffee at your hostal or your tour. Luckily, Amaru II in San Blas has the real stuff, and they have a nice breakfast offering. Now about Coca. We had taken to chewing coca leaves in the Huascaran, and we learned at Machu Pichu that the coca leaves work better if you put a little sodium bicarbonate (anything alkaline, but not as strong as lye) on them -- activates the coca! It makes a difference. I suspect most tourists go for the coca tea, but tea is a lot harder to carry around with ya on your walks. Check out the locals, they are chewing.
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We spent a total of 5 nights in Cusco, using it as our home base as we bopped off to the rainforest, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Our itinerary was fairly active so didn't get to do a whole lot of exploring here. We limited most of our exploration to San Blas and the Plaza de Armas areas. We did also take in the textile museum (an absolute must in my opinion) and went out in search for the yarn store -- an ounce of baby alpaca for about $2.25 US. But you need to buy 500 g, a bag of 10 (all the same color.)

My traveling campanions went into the main cathedral at plaza de armas. They highly recommend viewing the enormous painting of the last supper with a huge overstuffed Cuy on the platter. If only they allowed photos.

The other thing about Cusco is that one is constantly approached to buy junk. Word of advice -- say no gracias and never look at what they have to offer -- that shows them that at least you might be interested. On the other hand, these people are out to make a living. It's too bad the kids have to be involved too. If you see a big old guy in a crazy Inca costume, run and hide. The guy is crazy. I was chatting with a local finger puppet vendor and the Inca guy came over with his rock bludgeon and started hitting him. At first I thought it was a joke until the boy started to cry. He then proceeded on and acosted another youngster on another bench. I think in his crazy way, he felt sad to see his people being forced to work the tourists for change.

Cusco provided a paradox for me. On one hand, all the colonial architecture is absolutely glorious. On the other hand, you can see by the surviving Incan stone foundations that this city absolutely dwarfed Machu Picchu in grandeur and scale. I have yet to see an artist's rendition of what it may have looked like. What we learned of Incan architecture is that they reserve the really fine cut stones, the ones that fit together like a puzzle, for important buildings -- religious, government, royalty etc. These stones are everywhere in Cusco.

As for the essentials, you can get some good beer at the Irish pub off the main plaza, and if you are a vegetarian, there are some nice restaurants here for you. Our biggest disappointment with the tour operators was their advertising vegetarian options and either not following through, or not really understanding what vegetarians eat. It all works out in the end (did I really say that?). The fat vegetarians lose weight.

One more blog to come as we take our leave through Lima. Hope to hit some museums to find out more about the rich cultures that thrived before the Incas -- who only were around about a century.

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