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Published: December 11th 2009
Cusco, Peru
Monumento Pachacuteq.We arrived in Cusco on the morning of the 4th at 6am - the 2 month mark of our trip. We decided to stay at ´Koyllur Backpacker Hospedaje´ as it is cheap (only 35 soles/night/2ppl - $12.50 USD including private bathroom, hot water and cable TV) and is only 2 blocks away from the main square of the Plaza de Armas.
We are happy we arrived in Cusco 10 days before we hike the Inca Trail as it is a large city with a lot to see and do. We had to purchase a tourist ticket (Boleto Turistico del Cusco) for $45 USD (valid for 10 days) in order to visit the tourist attractions (excluding the religious monuments and churches) but it proved to be worth the money. So far we have toured the Museo de Sitio del Qoricancha, the Museo Historico Regional, and the Museo de Historia Natural. We saw the ruins of Saqsaywaman and Moray, the Monumento Pachacuteq, and climbed to the top of a hill which holds a large statue of Jesus over-looking the city. We also went on a bus tour through the Sacred Valley and the towns of Pisac, Calca and Yucay. The tour included
Cusco, Peru
The cathedral in Plaza de Armas. the ruins/archaeological sites of Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. It was alright but not really worth the $15 USD we paid as the majority of the morning and early afternoon were spent in different markets where everyone sells the exact same merchandise - not really what we were expecting.
Aside from hiking our way in and around the city, one of the more active things we have done was the ´Bike Asalt´ (BAS) tour through the company ´Gravity Peru´. It was a full day of mountain biking which started in the Andean highlands around Chinchero (3727m) and ended beside the Urubamba River in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. During the ride we biked through the countryside which gave us the opportunity to view the Urubamba mountain range including the Chicon glacier and the snow-capped peak of Mount Veronica (5682m). We saw the Incan ruins of Moray, rode through the town of Maras and visited the pre-Incan Salineras salt mines. The Andean communities which we cycled through were incredible to see as their way of life has changed very little since the Spanish arrived nearly 500 years ago. The ride was incredible and well worth the money (it was expensive at
$95 USD/person). Braeden had no problem during the ride and enjoyed the work-out. I realized how hard it was to get back on a mountain bike after about 18 years, especially riding down-hill over rocks and ridges. I almost fell once when I lost control by going too fast down a rocky hill. I was scared, embarrassed because I was being videotaped, and emotional because people started asking me if I was okay so I started to cry (which was even more embarrassing). Then later I did crash my bike and almost cried but - thanks to good equipment - I only lost a little bit of skin and ended up with a few minor scrapes and bruises. Our guide (and owner of the company, Dougie) was fantastic and rode with me the rest of the day. If it weren´t for him I don´t know if I would have had the confidence to get back on my bike as the ride got progressively more difficult and technical throughout the afternoon. Despite the crashing and crying, it was a good experience😊
Another day we decided to take the local bus (2 Soles/person = $0.65 USD) to the town of Pisac
Cusco, Peru
View from Saqsaywaman. to climb the mountains in the Parque Arqueologico. The ride was less than an hour but quite cramped as the driver was not shy about cramming as many people as possible into the bus. In Pisac, we hiked for about 4 hours in total and the views were spectacular. The ruins were quite spread out among the mountains so we were able to climb up several different paths and take pictures from multiple angles. It rained most of the day as we are now in the wet season but we were prepared with rain pants, jackets and ponchos. It was kind of amusing to see the ruins covered with tons of multi-coloured ponchos. Hopefully we won´t see as much rain while hiking Machu Picchu!
Before we leave Cusco I plan on taking one more guided bus tour around the city. It only costs 25 Soles/person (approx. $8 USD), lasts 4.5 hours and includes an English-speaking guide. While guided tours don´t always turn out as well as anticipated, this one will allow me to see the remaining ruins/archaeological sites on my ´Boleto Turistico´- Tambomachay, Pukapukara, Qénqo, Tipon, and Pikillacta. I´m not sure if Braeden is up for another guided tour
Cusco, Peru
Braeden at Saqsaywaman. at this point so I may be going solo. We have found that it is much more fun to go off and explore on our own as opposed to being herded around with 30 other tourists. Everyone always seems to move at incredibly slow paces and manage to walk into every picture we try to take - it can get quite frustrating!
Our time is almost up here in Cusco as we will be leaving for the Inca Trail on the 14th. We will be returning on the 17th (I previously had my dates wrong) and are planning to head to Puno probably a day or two later. We are looking forward to trekking the Inca Trail and hope it lives up to all the hype. We had our orientation the other day and have been busy getting all our last-minute necessities in order (warm clothes, rain gear, toilet paper, snacks, etc.). The trek is definitely not cheap!
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Mom Terri
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hiya kids
Fantastic pictures ! Sounds like an amazing time...hope the weather cooperates but sounds like you're well prepared for whatever is thrown at you...Cold Cold Cold here so don't complain about the rain - ha ha ha Hard to believe its 2 weeks until Christmas! Any ideas where you'll be celebrating? I'm off to GP on the 27th and hopefully will be staying at CA and Mike's new house, they are supposed to take possession on the 23rd. Collecting any Peruvian knits or other souvenirs? Enjoy enjoy enjoy - be safe too. Love always Mom