Un viaje increíble ~ Cusco y Machu Picchu

Bueno, let me continue on with the trip.

Cusco:

We arrived in Cusco by plane on Monday around noon. Cusco is about 11,000 feet above sea level, so we rested for most of the day to avoid getting altitude sickness. Luckily, the only symptom I felt on the trip was exhaustion and I managed to avoid the worst effects. The city is beautiful and although it is fairly large, there are no tall commercial buildings - just small houses and businesses with tiled roofs surrounded by mountains. On Monday night we went to a restaurant called Inka Wall where we saw a show with traditional Andean music and dances typical to various regions of Peru.

On Tuesday, feeling refreshed, we drove out of the main city area to an area with many ruins from the Incas. There we saw Saqsayhuaman, Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, and Qenqo. All of the ruins were located near each other and had great views of the city of
Cusco and the surrounding mountains. The area had llamas and alpaca roaming around the hills and streets freely, and we made sure to take pictures! We then drove to a beautiful look-out point on another hill overlooking the city, which has a statue of Jesus with his hands streched out over the city - a small replica of the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

For lunch, we made sure to try the typical dish of cuy (guinea pig) and, although it wasn't my favorite, it really wasn't too bad. Later that afternoon we toured the main Cathedral in the Plazas de Armas, which was interesting because it had influences from the Incas as well as from the Spanish. In a painting of the last supper, for example, Jesus and his apostles were dining on guinea pig and chicha morada - a very popular food and drink in the Andes. Finally we went to La Iglesia de Santo Domingo, which is a Spanish church built on top of the Inca's Templo de Oro. Tuesday night we meet up with our friend Felipe, who is a fellow Holy Cross student studying in Cusco for a summer program. It was funny to see another familiar face in Peru when we randomly ran into him on our first day in Cusco in the Plaza de Armas.

On Wednesday we left the hotel at 7am to go to the train station for Machu Picchu! It was a day full of travelling, since the train took about 3 1/2 hours each way, but it was well worth it. After taking a 20-minute bus ride up the mountains, we were finally there! The view of Machu Picchu seemed unreal - it was like all the postcards and photos I had seen previously but ten times better. We first hiked up to a spot where we got a panoramic view of all the ruins. The view was breathtaking and I really wanted to stay in that one spot forever! Since we only had about three hours before we had to catch the bus again, we made sure to explore all of the ruins with our guide July. It was interesting to learn a little about the ruins too. Machu Picchu was not a city but rather an expansive home for one of the Incan rulers - probably the best known ruler Pachacutec - built sometime in the 1400s. Over time grass and trees grew over the ruins, and it was rediscovered by accident by Hiram Bingham in 1911. All in all, it was an incredible experience and I really hope to return so that I can hike part of the Inca trail and the mountain next to it called Huayna Picchu.

After such a long day on Wednesday we made sure to get plenty of rest. On Thursday morning we went to the Museo Histórico Regional, which had artifacts and paintings from the pre-Inca cultures, Incas, and Spanish settlers. After we stopped at an animal shelter where we saw rescued pumas, huge condor birds, parrots, a giant turtle, and the tiniest monkey I have ever seen. Not far from the animal shelter, we went to a huge market called Pisaq where there are tons of stands set up selling all kinds of goods, for prices that are always up for bargaining. After lunch we drove to another set of Inca ruins called Ollantaytambo, which was an Inca city turned into fortress. Thursday night we went to another dinner that had a music and dance performance. At the end a few of us got picked to dance with the performers! After dinner we went out to a few "discoteca" clubs, and on Friday we had to wake up at 5:45am to leave for the 10-hour journey to Puno.

I think I would call Cusco my favorite destination, because I was left speechless at the beautiful views of the city, the clear blue sky, and the many ancient ruins left behind by the fascinating culture of the Incas. There was so much to see in this one city, and I was intrigued by all that we visited and saw. I'll save the final destination, Puno, for tomorrow.

¡Buenas noches!

Megan y yo enfrente de la ciudad de Cusco

El grupo enfrente del catedral en La Plaza de Armas

Machu Picchu ~ una experiencia increíble

Machu Picchu ~ una experiencia increíble

Niños andinos cerca del Ollantaytambo