Cusco: Peru, Chapter 2

3/15/2020

Prologue

Cusco is cobblestones, tightly packed streets, balconies, delicious food, adventure, and charm. It's unique and atmospheric, the kind of place you can never have enough time to explore. I loved Cusco despite some of the initial traveling hardships we dealt with.

Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport - We flew Peruvian Airlines from Lima. The landing was bumpy, and our nerves were shot after worries about the notoriously unreliable flights in and out of Cusco. Our hotel provided transportation which made things nice and simple when getting out of this airport. One odd thing that you should take into consideration when flying out of Cusco with Peruvian is that they allow for less baggage weight leaving than coming in. This is hugely problematic since Cusco is THE best and cheapest place to shop. We decided to pay for an extra bag on the way out just to store souvenirs. We saw lots of people opening their suitcases and dumping things on the floor trying to figure out what to do with all of their stuff. There were lots of upset tourists who didn't take note of this detail. While we planned for this, we didn't know that they would make you get out of line and pay for the extra bag in another line. Then you have to get back in line again to check in. While at first we panicked that we wouldn't make it to our gate in time with all of the line changing, the airport is relatively small, and we had plenty of time to relax and prepare for boarding.

Hotel: Tierra Viva Cusco Centro - This hotel was perfect for us. It was immaculately clean, nice grounds, free breakfast, very reasonably priced, and a beautiful city view. They greeted us with coca tea which is made with the dried leaves of the coca plant. Coca leaves are supposed to help combat symptoms of altitude sickness but did nothing for Tommy in the long run. We sipped our tea while waiting to get checked in as people hustled by on the cobblestone-lined streets and sidewalks. Our room was small but had these really cool floor to ceiling doors that opened up to windows/balconies overlooking the courtyard and rooftops of Cusco. The hotel is located within walking distance of everything. We didn't have to use Uber at all.

Tierra Viva Cusco Centro

Altitude Sickness - One of the main reasons we didn't bring the girls on this adventure was due to our concerns over altitude sickness. We did our research and tried our best to avoid getting sick. Cusco's altitude is just over 11,000 feet. Many people recommend acclimating by starting your travels in Aguas Calintes, the gateway to Machu Picchu, since it's elevation is under 7,000 feet. This didn't make sense for the amount of time we had, so we opted to take our chances.

We hydrated excessively for several days before flying to Cusco, and we continued to drink water on the plane and after arrival. We also took ibuprofen close to arrival, avoided alcohol, and planned for a low-key first day. We tried to take naps right after arriving, but the city was so loud and bustling, we couldn't get settled and decided to walk around slowly instead. As our arrival day wore on, Tommy began feeling like crap. He said it started with a bad headache that got progressively worse. He felt like he was in the midst of a horrible hangover. We headed back to the hotel where I knew things were not good since he didn't want to eat. He felt sick in the stomach every time he moved. We called the front desk, and they immediately brought up an oxygen tank. They recommended that he use it for twenty minutes and then go to bed early. He followed their advice, and felt surprisingly better the next day. It caused us to lose a bit of time on that first evening but the early bedtime was worth it since he was able to sleep in a bit the next day and then be back to normal. I can't imagine how awful it must be for travelers who are hit with worse symptoms and can't acclimate. It took him about one day to fully acclimate and feel completely normal.

The only thing I noticed during our time in Cusco was getting winded easily on the steps. It was definitely harder to climb, and I found myself uncharacteristically out of breath shortly after starting up a staircase. I lucked out and had no other altitude issues.

Craps happens when you travel - In addition to Tommy's bout with altitude sickness, I was battling some kind of unknown allergic reaction. Upon arrival in Lima, my eyes got bright red and felt weird. I kept my contacts out and located a pharmacy. With our sad, broken, semi-conversational Spanish, we asked for eye drops. Once we arrived in Cusco, my eyes seemed to clear up, but I noticed a rash breaking out on my arms. By day two, my face had started to swell a little, and the rash had spread to my stomach, back, and legs. We headed back to the trusty Inkafarma. I was pretty confident the topical cream we got was ok, but we also asked for help getting an allergy pill. We apologized in advance for our poor attempts at Spanish, but explained that I was having a rash. They listened patiently and gave me some pills. I cross-checked the ingredients with a Spanish language app, and downed it hoping I had asked for the right thing. It did the trick after a few days of discomfort, and we soldiered on. Traveling is going to have moments that suck. We dedicated ourselves to staying positive, enjoying our trip, and taking in all of the beauty of the country despite the weird stuff that cropped up.

Turning Pages: Places to Check Out

Plaza de Armas
Nestled in the heart of the city, the main square is surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings and dazzling mountain views. There are tons of shops and restaurants. Make sure to sit on one of the balconies to take in the breathless scenery as you dine.

The Cusco Cathedral (The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin) towers over the square. We did a quick tour around the inside and saw the famous painting of the Last Supper with a guinea pig on the plate (more to come on guinea pigs in the menu pages). No photography is allowed inside. We did not visit the other main church in the square, Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús, but the facade is equally striking.

Soccer Games - Copa Cup
We woke up one morning in the hotel to and lots of yelling in the streets. Something big was going on, but we didn't know what it was. We ventured outside and made our way to the square. There were soldiers lined up and a crowd was beginning to assemble to watch the Copa Cup: Peru vs. Brazil. We stumbled upon the city's pre-game parade and viewing event. There were people in costumes, school groups, karate teams, stilt walkers, vendors, and all sorts of excitement building. As the afternoon wore on, we bought Peruvian soccer shirts and face stickers before joining the crowd gathering in front of a giant TV screen and viewing platform. We watched the game, cheered, drank some beers, and had the absolute most insane time getting lost in the chanting, national pride, and general camaraderie. Closely tied with Machu Picchu, this experience was a favorite just because it was spontaneous and surreal being surrounded by the patriotic spirit and charisma of such a huge group of Peruvians in this majestic, colonial square. Clearly unprepared for standing in the hot sun all day without a hat, I could feel my pale face frying. A kind woman who didn't speak English noticed my discomfort and offered up a bottle of lotion. Red faced and glowing sweat, we soaked up the party and loved every minute of it. Pictures don't do this experience justice so make sure you check out my Facebook page or Instagram for the videos.

Llamas, Llamas Everywhere
Cusco has lots of people, mainly women, wearing colorful, traditional dress holding llamas, alpacas, and baby lambs. For a small negotiable price, you can get your picture with the women and the animals. I'm a sucker for this and did it numerous times not caring at all how much it cost. I love the bright, gorgeous colors of their clothing, and the llamas are just too cute to pass up. Anytime you're taking a picture of a person, make sure to ask permission first.

Shopping
We bought so much stuff in Peru - blankets, table runners. backpacks, purses, pens, llama toys, pom-pom door hangers, candy, place mats, a chess set, ties, and various other odds and ends. Cusco is probably the best and cheapest place to shop. You can and should definitely haggle here. I really hate going back and forth over prices but Tommy gets a real kick out of it. The prices are fair, and the inventory is so immense here that you can definitely shop around, negotiate, and come to an agreement that all parties can be happy about. The San Blas area is worth a walk. The skinny streets are something to marvel over, and there are tons of stairs. You'll pass the Twelve-Angled Stone which is not very exciting to look at but tends to gather a crowd. It's considered an archaeological marvel for it's twelve intricate cuts. I also can't stress enough how much the people appreciate when you try to speak Spanish. Even if it's terrible, the effort goes a long way.

Moray Incan Ruins and Maras Salt Mines
We used one tour company, CUSCOPERU, for two different day adventures. We don't typically do the tour group thing but figured due to the language barriers and time restraints we had, it was best to leave some of our touring to the experts. They were reasonably priced, responsive in communication, and easy to work with. They provided transportation including buses, trains and vans for all parts of our trips, organized ticket purchases, tour guides, and any other requirements needed for a smooth trip (passport information for Machu Picchu, etc.) Overall we thought they were fantastic, but there were a few things along the way that could have been better. CUSCOPERU sends a rep to your hotel to orient you on the plans for your trips. This was a great perk and made us feel prepared. The thing we weren't prepared for was that they insisted we pay the remainder of our balance in cash which would have been way too much money to be carrying around. The only other option was to pay on their website with a card which also included a fee. None of this was explained in advance so we were kind of stuck and had to figure out the online payment system on my phone. Other issues with CUSCOPERU were small, and I'll address these as they come up. CUSCOPERU has great reviews on TripAdvisor, and our tours functioned like really well-oiled machines.

CUSCOPERU

Moray and Maras are offered in one partial day trip so we were able to squeeze both in. Moray's ruins are circular, stone terraces built by the Incas to experiment with crops and study their growth in different sun and wind exposure and by varying temperature on each level. These concentric marvels are immense, and the Inca's genius in constructing them was way ahead of their time. CUCSOPERU takes care of organizing your entry tickets and also gives you a fair amount of free time to wander around the site. We walked the whole way around the ruins and got to see it from all angles.

You can get some perspective on how enormous the stone terraces are in this picture of me standing in front of one of the leveled walls. It's mind-boggling that all of this was done before technology existed. The terraces are just so expansive, it's hard to wrap your mind around the construction.

In between Moray and Maras, CUSCOPERU shuffled us into a tourist trap, wool-dyeing demonstration and shopping opportunity in a small village. This stop was not advertised on our itinerary ahead of time and took away from the amount of time we could have spent in Maras and Moray. This part irritated both of us, but I also understand that it's part of the whole tourist deal and often comes with the territory when you choose tour group experiences. This is also why we often limit our time with groups like this. We were served more coca tea, got to see some more llamas and learned how the Incas used natural materials to dye wool.

The Maras salt pans (Salineras de Maras) are absolutely fascinating. The ride there is harrowing and will most likely make you squeeze your eyes shut in fear more than once. The salt pans are located deep in a valley which means climbing high mountains and making your way down to them. The dirt roads are single lanes with zero guardrails. When zipping around corners, van drivers slam on the horns alerting oncoming traffic to stop. When buses and vans attempt to pass one another they delicately inch forward as each vehicle scoots past just inches from scraping metal and skirting the edge and each other in a fragile, dangerous balance. It's terrifyingly exciting.

After surviving the drive in, the reward is worth it. Maras is like a glittery jewel unearthed and bare at the bottom of the Andes mountains. Salt water from natural springs is channeled into the pans dug into the sides of the mountains. As the water evaporates in that hard Peruvian sun, the salt crystals are left behind. Workers smack the salt down to pack it and allow it to layer until they have enough to harvest. You're no longer allowed to walk in between the salt pools due to contamination, but the views from the decks are enough to see Maras in all its glory.

Menu Pages

Cuy (Guinea Pig)
The cuy, pronounced "COO-ee" originated in the Andes mountain region specifically as a food source. Guinea pigs are eaten as a delicacy in Peru and not as an everyday meal. With that said, it's available in lots of restaurants as a draw for tourists. I'm not the most adventurous eater, but I do like to try new things whenever I'm travelling. We stopped at two different restaurants in Cusco near the square but they were out of guinea pigs. We finally hit gold with the third and ate at a lovely little place that featured a Peruvian pan flute player whistling out dinner tunes; one of which was Hotel California by the Eagles that sent me into hysterical laughter for some reason. We ordered the cuy and settled in to wait. It takes about an hour to cook the guinea pig so we enjoyed the music and waited excitedly for our baked critter to arrive. Well worth the wait for presentation alone, the cuy was set down on our table in slow motion as we took in it's splendor. I have NEVER, EVER seen anything like this. It's whole little body was a cooked char on the plate, mouth frozen open in it's death state, and we just stared in awe and disgust. Then we immediately began taking pictures. I was a little disappointed that it didn't come out with a fancy hat on, but it was still amazing to behold. After we oogled the poor creature, the server took it back to the kitchen to carve it up and then returned it to us to eat.

Was the guinea pig delicious? No. Was the guinea pig edible? Yes. Did we also order a pizza? Yes. There was a very small amount of meat. It was gamey and greasy-tasting. I didn't want to throw up, but I also would never order it again. We ate all of it and enjoyed the experience. The following day we saw little hutches with guinea pigs in them, and I felt like they knew what I had done and were judging me for it.

San Pedro Market
Local markets are the absolute best way to experience the culture of a community. San Pedro market is incredible. It's located within easy walking distance of our hotel, and we visited there several times for food and shopping. The vendor and food stalls are crowded but the sights and smells are intoxicating. We had huge, insanely cheap meals at this market and enjoyed trying to chat with the locals. We found ourselves gaping at one customer's order of head soup. It was either a ram or lamb head laying in broth. For some reason I found this to be much grosser than the cuy. It was basically half a face laying in some liquid. I didn't want to take a picture of someone while they were eating, and I don't think either of us could have handled ordering one of those, so my verbal description will have to suffice. Our adventurous eating ended with the guinea pig.

Postscript: What I Missed

Things I wish we had time for (for the next visit):

Coricancha and the Convent of Santo Domingo - a massive religious compound with a sanctuary to honor the Sun god, Inti. We visited the church attached to this but didn't have enough time to see the complex.
Sacsayhuaman - ruins of an ancient Incan fortress
Cristo Blanco - Jesus Christ statue and views of Cusco
Rainbow Mountain - hike to see a mountain range made of ringed rainbow colors. We debated this trip seriously for a long time, but it's over three hours from Cusco. We also heard mixed reviews about it and ultimately nixed it.
Q'eswachaka Rope Bridge - relic example of a handwoven Incan suspension bridge. I really wanted to go to this one.

**If I could plan this trip again, I would definitely spend more time in Cusco. We only spent four days here and crammed in as much as we possibly could, but also felt like we missed so much. Between the colonial city and all of the day trip ruins, you could spend a month here and not feel satisfied.

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