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Another overnight bus brought us to Cusco. At least we made it and weren’t postponed more than a day due to the strikes. We were tired and cranky from lack of sleep, but we checked into the hostel and waited for Chris to wake up. I could not take one more free breakfast that consisted of bad coffee, bread and butter so I wanted to hit up McDonald’s for some pancakes. When Chris woke up we decided we were going to switch rooms. He had some loud people in his room for one particular country and we decided that we need good sleep before the Inca trail, so we paid the extra few soles and switched to a quieter room. Then it was pancake time!
That day we took it easy because we were pretty tired. We actually spent the next few days doing nothing in particular. We walked around the city and really loved it. The city is very touristy and we haven’t been so harassed by people wanting us to buy things since Asia. Everywhere we walked was ¨come to my store, buy this, do you want drugs?¨ Cusco is definitely a touristy place, but we still found the
charms of the city.
Cusco is another high city at an altitude is around 3,300 m (10,800 ft). We wanted to get here a few days before our hike so we acclimate. Cusco is the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It really is a beautiful city. There are rainbow flags flying everywhere, no not because I have transported myself to Castro in San Francisco, but because the Incan flag is just rainbow stripes. The rainbows are everywhere here.
The main focus of the city is the Plaza de Armas and its amazing cathedral. The Plaza de Armas is surrounded by restaurants and bars and even a McDonalds. Luckily there are no golden arches to ruin the scenery. The buildings all look old and worn and the many cathedrals are amazing. The main cathedral is definitely the centerpiece of the plaza and is absolutely gorgeous. We really enjoyed just sitting in the plaza and people watching, well if you could get rid of all the vendors coming up to you and trying to sell you stuff.
Then we headed up into the small cobblestones streets of Cusco.
This area is called San Blas. I really enjoyed this area. It is full of art stores and more hip and artsy shops. Of course I found a painting I loved that was $800. Apparently the artist is a famous one and is selling his stuff here in Cusco- talk about my expensive taste. No, I didn’t buy it, but I looked at it for a long time. From the square in San Blas there are really nice views of the city and all its adobe roofs.
We spent a couple nights enjoying the Cusco nightlife with our fun Irish friends. One night, I definitely had too much fun and didn’t really get out of bed the next day. I mean... I am on vacation right? I’m allowed one night! I guess that’s what I guess for going out with Irish boys. There are so many tourists’ bars here in Cusco that get you to come in with their free drink coupons. You can have a night out and not spend much money at all. Plus we were all celebrating because we had just watched the Lakers win their spot in the finals! We are slowly introducing our Irish
friends to NBA basketball. I think they are starting to like it!
We also visited one of the major Incan ruins around Cusco, Sacsayhuamán, or as I liked to call it, ¨Sexy Woman.¨ It is a walled fortress just outside the city and we easily walked to it. Some believe the walls were a form of fortification, while others believe it was only used to form the head of the Puma that Sacsayhuamán along with Cusco form when seen from above. There is still mystery surrounding how they it was constructed. The structure is built in such a way that a single piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. Plus the stones were huge! They were way taller than Jeff and I and it was quite impressive. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the limestone blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive devastating earthquakes in Cusco. What you see now is only about 20% of what existed in Incan times. I didn’t really expect much, but when we arrived I was definitely impressed. The whole complex was huge-
if this is only 20%, I cannot imagine what it looked like in its heyday. The Spanish harvested a large quantity of rock from the walls of the structure to build churches in Cusco, which is why the walls are in perfect condition up to a certain height, and missing above that point. On March 13, 2008, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple in the periphery of Sacsayhuaman; it is believed to have been built by the Killke culture which occupied the site between 900 and 1200 AD. They were still excavating the sight when we were there. It is amazing to think that tourists visit the sight everyday, but they are still discovering more amazing things at the sight. The Incans were amazing people.
After our four day Inca hike, Jeff and I had planned to stay in Cusco for a few more days, but unfortunately my grandmother became very ill and we had to leave for the states as soon as possible, so the Cusco blog pretty much ends here. We did have a nice last dinner and enjoyed one more bottle of Argentinean wine before an early flight to Lima to get our flight
home sorted out. I guess when life throws lemons at you, you have to make lemonade. We have had an amazing ride and I am just thankful for the time abroad we were given.
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Courtney Enriquez
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this is not the end...
of your journey... my heart tells me that you will find some way to finish up those last two weeks! All my strength and love! Court ;o)