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great view over a nice cuppa @ Cappuccino Cafe!
blue rimmed blacony railings over looking Plaza De ArmasHow shall I begin? Was it a fascination of the unknown, the intangible or a ‘fortunate series of events’ that culminated in a journey of a lifetime? As a wide-eyed 7th grader in India, I was fascinated with South America, the faraway continent from the
other hemisphere! - the Andes, the Amazon rainforest, the Incas, Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, not to mention the intrigue behind the Andean peaks Mt Aconcagua and Mt Ojas del Solado - everything enthralled me as I remember lapping up new names to add to my memory bank.
Fast forward to 2018 and here I was on a milestone birthday headed to Machu Picchu, the citadel of the Incas.
Our flight to Cusco was routed through Bogota and the passengers aboard were from different corners of the world – young and old - backpackers, bikers (who had checked in their mountain bikes), singles and couples, all united in their mission to have this ‘travelers Mecca’ checked off their bucket list! Conversation starters invariably were “When are you headed to Machu Picchu? “Are you doing the trails?”, “Where are you going next?”
Cusco airport was small and crowded. and the anxiety
Cappuccino Cafe
the famed coffee shop overlooking Plaza De Armas, Cusco Peru on some faces was palpable! We headed towards the exit quickly and took the cab to the hotel (negotiation works everywhere and it did here too, the cabbie agreed to take us for half his original quote of 60 soles - we realized much later that the actual trip cost was just 10 soles!)
It was a bright and sunny day as we headed towards Plaza De Armas, the main square but soon the rain gods appeared to play tag with the sun god of the Incas! The sudden shower sent us scampering for cover, but soon the sun was out and the crowds back! The plaza was replete with historic landmarks and just like many others aforetime, had been ravaged by the trauma of invasion – originally a ceremonial site for the Incas celebrating the Festival of the Sun, its present day cathedrals and churches stood testimony to the Spanish colonization.
Along the plaza’s perimeter were cafes (we went to the Cappuccino Café overlooking the main square), artisan shops, restaurants, pharmacies, gift shops, tourist agencies and many more. We took a side street heading steeply upwards and it was quite a climb. It was all too apparent
Plaza De Armas
the center court of activity that tourism drove the economy here but what was remarkable was the social and civic sense of the people. Even small alleys and by lanes were clean and the locals choose to sell their crafts and eke out a living, even though many lived below the poverty line. Most of the stalls were '
manned by women' - many of them with babies in strollers or toddlers running around, yet some with school aged children working on their home work. What amazed me was the fact that neither did I hear any child cry not saw any toddler mess up his/her mother's arrangement of wares - truly admirable that they were a community in harmony with nature and with themselves!
My meal that night at Restaurant 'El Paisa' was Spicy Seafood Sauce – abundant seafood in yellow pepper sauce accompanied by boiled yucca. I am not a foodie but I loved the flavor of the sauce and the fish, shrimp and scallops.
We headed back to the comfort of the hotel, preparing ourselves for the journey that lay ahead – the lure of Machu Picchu!
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