Cusco Peru

Saturday May 11.  A recovery day in a bustling city in the Peruvian highlands was just the tonic our bodies needed post Inca Trail. No crazy early wake up shouts, another hot shower, chairs with cushions and backs and only 12 steps down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.  Luxury.

The Peggs had been in Cusco a year ago to visit their son as he wandered South America on a six month holiday so Doug acted as our tour guide. A guidebook description captures Cusco perfectly:  a beautiful schizophrenic city containing a devoutly Catholic community that is extremely proud of its Inca heritage.  Cusco was conquered by the Spanish in 1533 and fortunately retains multiple examples of centuries old Hispanic architecture.  Interestingly an earthquake in 1950 destroyed many colonial facades thereby exposing the Inca stonework hence the two coexist throughout the city.

Today Cusco is a busy tourist town with a great vibe. There are hundreds (thousands?) of street vendors and countless souvenir shops on every street. Of course we fell for some of it.  Yes those are live baby alpacas.

It includes a curious mix of broad boulevards and tiny cobblestone streets that work on the premise of whomever is further along a particular section dictates the direction of traffic. Needless to say we saw examples of gridlock where neither vehicle appeared to have any intention of backing up. We didn’t stick around to see how it got resolved.

One Inca building provided another example of their extraordinary masonry skills and included a famous stone with 12 finely cut edges – remember they didn’t have tools that explain how this precision was achieved.

Cusco has an amazing market, both open and covered. It’s massive with various aisles offering a single grocery category.

A hearty lunch followed by more recovery time at the hotel used up part of the afternoon. Then it was back out to visit a small section of one of the many Inca museums. We’re all running on fumes so it was a slow steady wander back through the main square and the hotel once more.

A team meeting explained our schedule for tomorrow – 7 hours in a bus heading to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca – then a few of us went back out for dinner.  The square was alive with marching bands and dancing which added a festive atmosphere.

Needless to say, sleep was very easy to come by.