A Wonder-ful Trip: Cuzco and Machu Picchu


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South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco
August 28th 2007
Published: September 17th 2007
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Church in CuzcoChurch in CuzcoChurch in Cuzco

In the Plaza de Armas
The beginning of our trip was a whirlwind; we found out we were going less than 12 hours before our flight our of Lima. There were four of us leaving on Tuesday (Klaas, Kelli, Claire, and me) and another UVa student joining us on Wednesday. Our flight was earrrrly in the morning; we left our houses at 3am for a 5:30am flight. The flight was uneventful (AeroCondor was the company- they were great!) and we were greeted by a travel agent in Cuzco and taken to our hotel. At the hotel we had coco tea (made from coco leaves) to prevent soroche, aka altitude sickness. We all went straight to bed and woke up to go find some lunch and explore the city. Our hotel was 4 blocks from the Plaza de Armas (city center), a great location. Luckily no one got too sick from the altitude, but we all took it easy the first day.

The second day we walked around during the morning and then went on a city tour. The tour was given by a man named Puma who was very animated and knew a lot about the history of the city. We went to a convent, church, and ruins (Saqsaywaman and two other shrines whose names I don't remember). The convent was gorgeous (lots of arches) and the views of Cuzco from the ruins were incredible. Check out the pictures (if you click on them the larger size loads).

The third day we went on a tour of the Sacred Valley - Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero. The Sacred Valley itself is stunning and the views along the drive are amazing. It was really sunny - which we all loved because we hadn't seen the sun in Lima for weeks. Pisac is a small town where there is a big market every Sunday when lots of families that live in the mountains come down to trade food for other goods. I didn't really like it because out of the center there is a TON of tourist markets. It felt more like a made-for-tourists town than anything else, but maybe it's different on Sundays. We then had a delicious lunch buffet and headed for Ollantaytambo, an ancient Inca shrine built into a mountain whose construction was halted during the Spanish conquest. The ruins were awesome (lots of terraces, incredible construction). I am still amazed at how these HUGE stones were ground down and placed together to form these large structures. After that we went to this really small town, Chinchero, to see an old church. The amazing views and lack of toursits made it my favorite spot of the day. The town just felt so authentic; I spent about 30 minutes talking to kids (with the little bit of Spanish I know) and watching all of the townsfolk just hang out.

The morning of the forth day we woke up REALLY early to catch the train to Aguas Callientes. See next entry...


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Cuzco by night!Cuzco by night!
Cuzco by night!

Church and fountain in the Plaza de Armas
Sacred ValleySacred Valley
Sacred Valley

Kelli, Claire, and I overlooking the Sacred Valley
Groiup at DinnerGroiup at Dinner
Groiup at Dinner

Tip: There are so many restaurants in Cuzco that you can ALWAYS bargain for free appetizers and drinks.
Llamas!Llamas!
Llamas!

or something related to them; I can't tell the difference.
una nina de los Andesuna nina de los Andes
una nina de los Andes

Girls dressed in Andes garb are a tourist trap; you take their picture because they are so cute and then they demand money. I refused to fall into this trap, so I snuck this one in while on the bus.
OllantaytamboOllantaytambo
Ollantaytambo

Me at the shrine
ChincheroChinchero
Chinchero

Gorgeous. I have never seen skies so incredibly blue.


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