Peru: Days 3-6, Cuzco

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Flying into Cuzco was breathtaking and got me so excited about my next week or so in this beautiful place. I had originally intended to take a full week of Spanish lessons, but I had no or little feedback from the schools here, which made me less than enthusiastic to try. I figured I could just keep trying to speak Spanish while traveling on my own. My first test came as I exited the baggage claim. The woman at my hostel had emailed me some tips and told me not to pay more than 20 soles for a taxi. Well, the first place I came to, the "official" airport taxi, was going to charge me 45 soles! I told them (in Spanish) that my hostel said no more than 20 and they said no, look at the prices. I left, walked outside and a guy offered me a taxi and as his first response was 25 soles, I was on board with Gregorio. And he knew right where to take me (the hostel had also said some taxis try to take you to other hostels for commission). He was also very good to practice my spanish with, so things were looking up!

I am staying at the Pisko y Soul, right in the San Blas neighborhood of Cuzco. It is up narrow, cobblestone streets right in the heart of old Cuzco. Checking in basically consisted of the guy giving me a key and saying I could pay whenever. Ok. It was kind of nice to rest, but at the same time I got the impression that this place was not going to be as helpful as I had hoped; I guess I got spoiled at the Lighthouse. One thing that did work out well was my room; I am in a private room with its own bathroom. Woohoo! I walked around my streets that afternoon without going too far to just try to get a feel for the area. When I had stepped off the plane, I got light headed and didn't immediately understand or even recognize it, but then I realized it was the altitude. It made me smile - what a strange feeling. Fortunately, that is the only time I ever got affected by the altitude (so far!), aside from huffing and puffing up any and all stairs. Also, I heard so much about the rainy season and so far, nothing but blue skies and even hot temperatures! Fingers crossed it stays that way!

The next day (Saturday) I walked around the main sections of Cuzco - Plaza de Armas - and got my tourist ticket as well as booked my trek for Machu Piccu. This trek was per a recommendation from a fellow blogger and I got a good vibe from the company, so the next day I also signed up for the City tour. Unfortunately, I was woken up at 3:30 in the morning by fireworks that went non-stop through the rest of the day, plus two parades with brass bands playing between 3:30 and 6am. Unbelievable. When I asked the guy at the tour company what was happening, as there was another parade coming down the street at the time, he just said "Es Cuzco! Es muy Catolico!" I saw many of these parades all day.

The City tour takes you to five archaeological sites in and around Cuzco and was interesting. However, they asked me to wait for the English group; I kind of wanted the Spanish group but I also wanted to understand the history. I waited for a good half an hour with a group four women from Taiwan, only one of whom spoke English. Turns out we were the only "English" speakers on the tour and the one girl had to translate everything. For me, the guide was not too worried about making sure I was around for the English translations like he was with the Taiwanese; I guess my Spanish impressed him! 😊 And it turns out I actually understood most of what he said without the translation. Woohoo!

The first place we went to was Qorikancha, which is the only one of the five not included on the tourist ticket and cost 10 soles. Honestly…. It was nice, but it was soooooooooo crowded! I was shocked. I thought this was supposed to be the low, wet season so I am just continually amazed about how many tourists are here; I wonder what it is like during peak season. And with all those people meant that you could not hear the guide very well and did not get to enjoy seeing things as much. This was a former Inca temple whose courtyard was completely covered in gold until the Spanish came and took it, melting it down. They built a Dominican monastery in this place instead, which was also a 'gift' from Francisco Pizarro to his brother.

The next place was a good bus ride away. We rose up the hills above Cuzco, to the ruins of Sacsaywauman and beyond (thankfully, I did this tour instead of my own tour to Sacsaywauman as my map showed as just a short walk away - um, no!). The first stop here was Q'enqo whose name means "zigzag" - I think this was a ceremonial place as there was an altar cut of the rock in a cave. The next stop was Pukapukara, which means "red fortress" and was my favorite of the three outlying ones. The use of this particular structure is not quite clear, but it is believed to have been an out post as well as a checkpoint for travelers coming to Cuzco. Just beyond this one is Tambomachay, which was a walk up the hill to my highest elevation so far: 12,400 ft. I think I'm good to go altitude wise!

Our last stop was Sacsaywauman, approximately pronounced "Sexy woman," which is just incredible. We sat for about 20 minutes while our guide gave us the history but mostly I just enjoyed watching the many families taking advantage of the weather and the weekend to come here and have a day out. There was one family right next to us placing leap frog - it was awesome. I can't even imagine having these ruins and this view as my playground. Sacsaywauman was designed to be the "head" of the puma, which was the original layout design of Cuzco. The walls are in a zig zag pattern, representing the teeth and were also a great defense against invading armies. We had 15 minutes free time, so I climbed all the way to the top, huffing and puffing, but the view was sooooo worth it. You could see all the way across the Cuzco valley. Amazing.

As soon as I got back to the hostel, with my groceries for the trip in tow, I got sick. Tummy sick. And I was sick all through the next day. I am really hoping this ends by the time my trek starts Tuesday morning…. but it is not looking good. I'm still going though, dadgommit! I was curled up in a ball in my room most of the day, only coming out to get something to eat a nearby vegetarian restaurant as I needed something light but substantial. I got a really good quinoa and spinach salad, which was good but I could only eat less than half. I met with my tour guide that evening going over the items to bring and meeting times. I was nervous about the trek because of my sickness, but talking to him just got me pumped. So I went out for dinner, still wanting something light. I stopped at a place thinking nachos with guacamole worked, but it turned out to be a four course meal. Yikes! The nachos was a small plate, followed by a soup - perfect. I still could only eat half. When the lomo saltado came out I was feeling sick again. So, I ate the rice and some of the meat, left money on the table, and booked it back to my hostel. Sigh…

Well, regardless, I am still excited about my trek and I believe the power of the mind can overcome any obstacle! So think good thoughts and I will post about my adventure in a few days!

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Photos

Stuffed hot pepper dish
at a nice restaurant with live music - Andean Grill

My hike up to the hostel
This is where i get out of breath!

Sacsaywauman
a local family playing leap frog

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Dirty dogs
I wanted to grab all the dogs and give them a bath.