Sexy Woman

Let’s start by saying we love Cusco. The city is worth visiting even if it wasn’t the gateway to Machu Picchu. It’s clear why it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our hotel is in the center of town and we have been able to do most of our sightseeing by foot. After we arrived yesterday we walked to the Plaza de Armas, the main square in the city, hoping to see some Independence Day celebrations. Our taxi driver from the airport was right, nothing special was going on. But the plaza is impressive, with a couple of churches around the plaza and a lovely fountain in the middle.

We wandered around and found a mini mercado which had bins of bulk foods like potato chips and gummy candies. They also had a Peruvian 70% chocolate bar with golden berries that was delicious. We also bought some plantains that were fried and seasoned like potato chips. We devoured the plantains and have considered going back for more!

Next we found a textile museum. It showed how the native women treat and dye alpaca wool and weave it into amazing textiles. There were women weaving while we visited, and the museum sold some exquisite items, far nicer than what you see in the tourist shops closer to the center of town.

For dinner we found a restaurant called Inkazuela. The menu had a column for house specialties and another for local specialties. We decided to order the chicken and beef stews on the house special list. It was so good that we may need to return. They did have more exotic local meats like guinea pig and alpaca but we decided against those.

This morning we enjoyed the amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel. There were multiple stations with western breakfast food but also more local options like smoked trout, skewer of beef heart, tamales, Inca corn, arroz con pollo (Peru style). By far the best item was the chocolate pastry with a chocolate filling. We will get more tomorrow!

After breakfast we stopped by the hotel courtyard where there was a baby alpaca available for photos. Alpaca fur is incredibly soft! And they are just as cute as they are soft!

Next we wanted to see some of the historic sites. Like our hotel, many of the sites in Cusco were taken over by the Spanish conquistadores who built churches on top of the Incan religious sites. The first one we visited was Coricancha, the Temple of the Sun. At the entrance, we hired a guide. She explained that this was a holy site which celebrated the sun and the stars. There was one portal that was positioned to allow light in on the summer solstice, much like the Idol of Ra in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The walls have withstood earthquakes because of their clever construction. The walls are at 15 degree angles and the stone is carved with male and female parts, like legos!

When the Spaniards came, they took all of the gold and silver from the walls. Shocker. They then took half of the building and repurposed it as a church. They covered the walls with plaster. Then an earthquake hit. The original Incan walls survived thanks to their ingenious design. The new Spanish section completely collapsed.

After the tour, we hired our guide to take us to a couple of other sites outside of town. The first was Sacsaywaman (pronounced like Sack Say Whoman but we heard it being called Sexy Woman.) The name means satisfied falcon. It is a 15th century ceremonial complex. The site consists of three tiers of massive zigzagging stone, one weighed 125 tons! One stone had 11 corners. And the stones were carved by hand with rocks, since the Incans had no metal tools.

Next we went to a touristy stop where we were able to feed alpacas and llamas. They had some other local animals as well, like condors and guinea pigs. They sold gorgeous sweaters woven from baby alpacas. We did our job of supporting the local economy by buying sweaters for each of us.

Finally we stopped at Q’enqo, a site where Incans performed ritual sacrifices. They carved some stones so that the shadow looked like a Puma, a sacred animal.

After our tour, we stopped for some ice cream for lunch! They had a tuna flavor. We looked it up and “tuna” is Spanish for prickly pear. That’s forTUNAte since neither of us was eager to try fish ice cream.