Cusco, 22 de Noviembre - 3 de Deciembre



Cusco! Plaza de Armas, view from our breakfast table at the hostel - first seen on day 3.


Our initial excitement upon arriving to Cusco was dampened and brought to an abrupt halt, with a descent bout of food poisoning erupting within 12 hours of each other. Its always hard to pin-point the bacterial culprit, however we suspect it was likely to be some kind of delicious-indigenous-delectable consumed street-side the day prior in Puno (yes pronounced Pooh-no, or in my case Spew-no). Fortunately we checked into a romantic matrimonial suite with ensuite bathroom and cable television - fantastic excuse to catch up on all those missed episodes of Megastructuras in Spanish on Discovery Channel!
A good couple of days later and we were prepared to leave the safety and comforts of our accommodation to start exploring this amazing city on our doorstep.

Cusco central, another breathtaking Andean city at 3400m.

Cusco quickly became one of our favorite small city's visited so far in South America (probably in the top 3). Three distinct layers form the city; a considerable amount of buildings from the Spanish conquest built atop 600 year old Inca foundations, and in the outskirts the more recent and perhaps less interesting layer built in the last 200 years of independence. We found this graphic illustration and palimpsest of each rise and fall of power particularly fascinating.


Iglesia de El Triunfo




Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus



Clare trying her haggling skills at one of the many courtyard markets we frequented.

 

Awesome cantilevered timber balconies over the colonnade that surrounds Plaza De Armas, our hostel was the 2nd in from the right.


A lively and busy little city, here we experienced the greatest concentration of street vendors so far. Literally every 10 steps around the main plaza's you would be harassed to check out some cheap artwork (some of which was quite good), or "would you like a massage Mr....pedicure, manicure lady...?!" Obviously as a tourist mecca this was to be inherent.
Also, markets galore, of course we purchased several of the famous Llama beanies, Clare some interesting jewellery, and a favourite of mine - a beautifully crafted timber Andean recorder, spurring the renaissance of my primary school talent. I am now considering playing Clare down the aisle to Greensleeves.

Once we could digest at what could be considered a fairly normal speed again, we also enjoyed the plethora of excellent restaurants and cafes. We have since acquired a new taste for cake and milkshakes, in particular lemon-meringue pie accompanied with a cortado (coffee with milk). They love baking in Peru.

The famous Inca polished dry-stone wall construction. Mortar-free these were more earthquake resistant than mortar based construction. This is the most photographed Inca stone in Cusco because it has 12 angles. I bet you're as excited as I was.  





View from Plaza San Blas.



Qorikancha - the site of the Inca Empire's richest temple, forming the base of colonial church Iglesia de Santo Domingo. Apart from the brilliant Inca stonework, the Spanish looted everything else.   


As the base point for acclimatization and treks to Machu Picchu,  we jumped on a hike from here and on our return spent a further 2 nights before heading north.