Cusco

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We flew from Santiago to Lima and Lima To Cusco. We took a taxie to our budget hotel called The Net House. The hotel room with private bath and breakfast included was $35.00 US. The hotel is in the historic part of Cusco, you should only stay in the historic center so you can walk to all the sites. We like Cusco with it cobbled streets and the people selling food on the sidewalk. You can see many women carrying babies, laundry or flowers in blankets on their backs. The people are very religious and we witnessed several religious parades where people carry statues of Jesus through the streets. One of the parades was so large it was on TV and it took six hours for it to wind through the streets. The large plazas have booths selling items during the day and games of chance in the evening.

We took a day trip to the Sacred Valley, the cost was $25.00 for the transportation and guide. In addition we paid for the cost of entrance fees and lunch. The trip was all day from 8:30 to 6:30. We visited the Pisac market, Pisac archeological site and Ollantaytambo archeological site. We also visied a village with its narrow Inca streets, colonial church built on Inca ruins and local women demonstrated how to make alpaca products.

From Cusco we walked up the hill to the archeological site called Saqsayhuaman, We hired a guide at the gate, which was a good idea because we would not have known what we were looking at without him. He explained what the sites were, this was not a city but a religious center for the Incas. Cusco was the capital of the Inca civilazation. He said he still follows the Inca's beliefs even though he is a Catholic. During the Inca reign the population of Cusco was 400,000, today the population is 500,000.

We took a cooking class from Marcelo Batata, www.cuzcodining.com or email [e-mail]. This was fun in addition to cooking we learned about the history of food in Peru and we learned how to make Pisco Sours. We ate a lot of Alpaca in Cusco, our favorite way to eat it was cooked on a hot stone at your table.

Cusco at night is beautifu, the fountains are lit up, the lights from the houses on the hills twinkle and the streets are full of people. If you come to Cusco be sure to get a prescription for altitude sickness before you come, even with the medication the altitude can take a few days to adjust to. Cusco is a great place to shop for Alpaca products like hats, sweaters, gloves and blanket, the prices are lower than in other citie.

if you come to Peru plan on a visit to Cusco, you will enjoy it.

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Photos

Our Alpa, Lamb and Beef Dinner
You cook the meat on a hot stone.