The Ancient City of Cusco

Cusco has proven to be our favorite city in South America yet!  We arrived on an overnight bus from Arequipa early in the morning. Despite being the most comfortable over night bus we have taken over the entire trip (Oltursa is the name of the bus company if you ever venture down here), neither of us slept well due to the bumpy ride.  We didn`t let this stop us from taking off right away though.

Plaza de Armas in Cusco.

Cusco overall is a very touristy town, but the streets in the downtown area are lined with cobblestone and there is a different square to hang out in with beautiful churches on almost every other corner.  Both of us had been looking forward not only to Machu Picchu, but discovering the Incan treasures in and around Cusco as well. 

We saw this on the walking tour. The Incans even put pictures in their stone work.  Do you see the snake? The largest stone in the middle looks like it has a darker spot for an eye.  Also in the stones were pictures of a puma and a condor.

While Sam took the time to rest and nap on the afternoon we arrived, I headed straight for one of the inexpensive massages off the street.  My legs were still aching from the climb out of Colca Canyon and I couldn`t think of a better remedy.  While the hour long hot stone massage that I received may not have been the caliber I would have in the U.S., it was just what I needed, and at only $8, I didn`t feel guilty at all.

The San Pedro market was one of our favorite places in Cusco.

One of my favorite things to learn about other cultures has been their typical types of food and how to make them. It just so happened that evening, the Chocolate Museum two blocks away from our hostel was hosting a Peruvian cooking night, so we signed up right away.  Not only did we learn how to make their typical dinner, we learned how to make what also became our favorite drink of the trip so far, pisco sours.  Gladys was our chef, and we started out at the local market.  Sam and I wished that we had a local market like this at home.  Not only could you buy all types of fresh ingredients, they had a section with juice bars where you could get fresh juice for just over $1.  You could buy whole meals there as well including soup and a main dish and drink for about $3.  They even had a chocolate section.

A Peruvian woman selling all sorts of item at her stand in the market.

Once we returned from the market, we got down to business in creating our dinner of the evening, alli de gallina, which is a chicken dish served over rice and potatoes. The sauce was the specialty, a creamy blend with yellow peppers and onions.  It was topped off with a delicious salad and chocolate fondu for dessert, not to mention those pisco sours.

Cusco cooking class!

Getting right down to work.

And the outcome was totally worth it.

The pisco sours topped off the meal.

More pisco sour making the next day.  We weren`t complaining!

We also took part in the free walking tour in Cusco.  I have learned while we`ve been traveling that many cities hold these, although the tour in Cusco was one of the only ones we took part in.  We were offered free samples of different types of food and drink as well as learning about some of the history of the Incas and the city of Cusco itself.  They also taught us about all the amazing things made out of alpaca and showed us how to tell the difference between real baby alpaca and the synthetic (although when we went to the market later I still felt clueless).We ended the the tour at the Picso Museum (which is really just a bar where they sell pisco) and again were taught about the history and the making of pisco sours. 

The traditional garb of the locals. I couldn´t resist taking a picture of this little girl and her llama .

For our last few days in Cusco, after returning from the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, we relaxed and got ready for our journey to the Galapagos. If the opporturnity ever presented itself, I would love to come back to Cusco to study spanish, which we have slowly been trying to teach ourselves during the whole trip so far.  Let`s hope our work has paid off  so far, because volunteering in the Galapagos is just about here!

(Written March 15th)