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Published: January 13th 2016
Plaza de Armas
Cusco's central square. Gringo ground zero. As the starting point for almost every tour to Machu Picchu, this is all that I thought Cuzco was. So imagine my surprise when I arrived and discovered how unexpectedly pretty the city is and how much history and importance the place has.
Yes, the place is rammed with tourists and there are hawkers pestering said tourists for their dollars and
soles, selling everything and anything. Just like in
Bolivia but not as in-your-face and nowhere near as persistent as hawkers in
Egypt or
Morocco- but they are there and annoying nonetheless. Despite this however, in one of a number of curious contradictions about this place, Cuzco still manages to retain its charm.
The oldest continually inhabited city in South America and chief stronghold of the Inca Empire, this history is seen in the streets of Cuzco from Loreto, an alley lined by Inca-built walls, to Qorikancha - a royal Inca courtyard that was once literally covered in gold, but is now incorporated into the colonial Iglesia de Santo Domingo. As a tourist site, Qorikancha is mildly interesting - the Inca stonework is impressive as are the quality of the paintings done by students of the Art
Inca Walls
Inside Qorikancha. In the background you can also see some impressive gold-framed paintings by students at the Art School of Cusco which were painted during colonial times. School Of Cuzco back in colonial times.
The other tourist site that I managed to visit - The Inka Museum - was quite comprehensive. It detailed all of the pre-Inca tribes that lived in what was to become the Inca Empire and the areas they occupied, how the Incas sustained themselves economically, the food they grew, that art they made, the ceremonies that took place and Inca life after Spanish conquest.
I didn't visit any more tourist sites because they all charged a fee, so you had to choose wisely. It was annoying that you're charged to enter churches here - I've seen loads of good ones for free so how good could they have been?
Given that you are charged for almost all the tourist sites, it was strange that we had so much trouble getting cash out here. Sybe in particular had an absolute fiasco as he was denied service by almost every ATM in town, before having to resort to getting money out on his credit card. When paying for my
jungle trek, the credit card machine rejected my
correct PIN resulting in my card getting blocked. A fiasco, I tell you, a fiasco! A Cuzco fiasco!
Cuy
Roasted guinea pig - a Peruvian speciality. As mentioned earlier, there were a number of other strange contradictions in this Twilight Zone of a city.
I had been at altitude - 2,500m and higher - now for about a month. La Paz is 3,600m high and
Potosi was at 4,100m. In the
salt flats, we were as high as 4,900m. Above 4,000m I had headaches and nausea and my stomach was a little rumbly in La Paz - but at 3,300m in Cusco, I found myself with a sore tummy, a fever and achy, tired muscles. It was so bad in fact, that I was knocked out for a day before my Jungle Trek.
Worse was to come on my return from Machu Picchu though - fine at first, my symptoms suddenly returned after a couple of hours in Cuzco but about three times worse. Added to this was the onset of diahorrea and frequent trips to the toilet. It was so bad that I was basically knocked out for another day.
It certainly was a curious case - I guess my body just doesn't like Cusco for some reason. My exhaustion from Machu Picchu however, probably played a part on my return to the city.
Colonial Arches
On Plaza de Armas. All of which meant I spent quite a bit of time at the hostel. It was a quiet place and it didn't seem to be busy - the layout of the place also didn't help the atmosphere which really wasn't conducive to meeting people. It was also freezing; Cuzco has this confounding ability to be really hot from the sun and freezing from the wind at exactly the same time - therefore without the sun, it was getting down to about 5°C at night. My dorm was right next to what is pretty much an open-air courtyard - meaning it was cold enough for me need an extra blanket and added to the suffering I was experiencing thanks to my altitude sickness. One thing the hostel did have in its favour however was the radio station they had on - golden oldies, with a particular focus on 80s and 90s pop. Showing my age, the music at least brought a smile to my face and took my mind off my volcanic stomach.
And a sore stomach is the worst thing you have when you're in a country famed for its gastronomy. Not that I let it stop me!
Among
Me, Sybe & Fleur
We got to go behind the scenes at the restaurant to see our guinea pigs get cooked - and to cook them a bit ourselves. the delicacies I had were alpaca meat (chewy but otherwise fine),
anticuchos (beef-heart skewers - like satays; delicious),
lomo saltado (Peruvian stir-fry of beef and peppers served on fries - good hangover cure similar to
chorillana in Chile),
chicha morada (cold, sweet drink that tastes like a non-alcoholic
gluhwein) and perhaps most interestingly,
cuy - or roasted guinea pig.
A Peruvian/Ecuadorian speciality, the guinea pig is roasted with a local mint and tastes to me like something between duck and rabbit, although Sybe will definitely tell you he disagrees. There isn't a lot of meat on it and it is quite hard to eat - so for me I probably wouldn't order it again, although it is something definitely worth trying once! It is also quite expensive!
You can also eat cheaply in tourist-overrun Cuzco however.
On a street nicknamed "Gringo Alley", the end of which is packed with nightclubs and a proliferation of bars, I managed to get a set menu of soup, mains and a drink for just S/15 (£3). It was here that I had another Peruvian speciality in
aji de gallina, a chicken and walnut stew a lot like chicken korma. At another restaurant, I walked
Cuzco Cathedral
It took almost 100 years to build. into the place blind, without checking or agreeing a price for my soup, mains and drink set menu. Never mind - it turned out to be the cheapest meal I have had so far; S/7 (£1.40)!
An annoying habit of Peruvian restaurants however is the fact that they often only bring you your drink halfway through your meal and often it is not enough - and I usually don't need much drink with my meal.
Some other Peruvian peculiarities that I have noticed so far;
- Every room in every building in Peru seems to have an abundance of power sockets. Which is great - I'm usually complaining that there aren't enough of them.
- The service in Peru is better - they seem to know how to treat customers here. Much better than Bolivianos. In saying that, I would say that Bolivianos are friendlier, even if they aren't good at service. The Peruvians I have met so far are very stern and stony-faced when you first meet them. Share a joke or two however and they begin to open up a bit. Otherwise they seem to suffer from a condition known as "asshole/bitchy resting face".
- Peruvians so
San Blas
Hilly neighbourhood of Cuzco. far - especially the men - all seem to look the same to me and I have problems telling them apart. They all appear small, dark and with big noses. They pretty much look all like former Newcastle United and Peru legend
Nobby Solano.
Although I got better with my sickness after the first day each time, I was still uncomfortable and after a month at altitude and I really just needed to get out of Cuzco - which was exactly what Fleur and Sybe were doing, finally leaving me after a month. It was when I was bidding them farewell that I realised I hadn't
not shared a meal with them for over a month. They've been awesome company from the day I met them in
Mendoza, through to the four-or-so weeks I spent travelling with them from
San Pedro to here and we've shared so many experiences together. Hopefully I will see them again in Colombia.
With their departure, I was now to be travelling alone for the first time in five weeks. Not for long however - find out why in the next blog entry!
Hasta luego,
Derek
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Cusco
A city that means something to everyone who visits I find. With a history that probably means it has an aura like no other. Thanks for sharing your's.