Cusco, the nearly two mile high city, was a shock to our system. After checking into the hotel, our guide carefully guided us downhill to the restaurant where we were having lunch. Walking any distance was going to be an effort until we adjusted to the altitude.
After lunch, which was as delightful as the native clad hostess, we took taxis uptown to the central square.
The square looks very Spanish, as most of the buildings in this area were built during Spanish occupation. In the middle of the square was a nice spouting fountain, surrounded by green grass, flowers and benches. This in turn was surrounded by a beautiful old Cathedral, another large church and businesses.
We were told that each of the dozen or so large churches in Cusco was built on the site and often on the foundation of a major Incan sacred site. Although this took away the visible image of the sites, there is still much Incan stone work to be seen. The Incas were very fine stone masons and there are walls still standing, even without the use of mortar.
Lots of these walls have been incorporated into new buildings/churches by the Spanish in creative ways, starting around about 1532….or so.
The walls with the very straight lines were for the royalty….and the less perfect were for the other people.
Cusco is very much a tourist city and this is apparent in all the many local craft malls, stores, wool and gold shops….even people wanting you to take their picture.
This is very often the stop before going on to Machu Picchu or other parks because Cusco has a nice, but very busy, airport.
However, Cusco has interesting historical things to offer as well. We spent a morning at Sacsayhuaman, located just 2 kilometers from Cusco and thought to be a military complex during Incan times. Although the Spanish took many of the stones for their own buildings, there are still lots to marvel at as you walk around the site.
When you think that the Incas only had stones to cut the stones with, and no wheels to move the cut stone, you realize that the Incas were quite the engineers.
Near the complex is a large modern statue of Christ which can be seen from most of Cusco. After looking at the trails, it looks like it is well visited.
Nearby, we visited with another Shaman who burned tokens of concerns and problems of the world and gave us a special blessing.
To finish off the morning, we had a home hosted lunch with several courses of delicious native foods.
However, I don’t think any of us truly appreciated the effort spent to prepare the guinea pig that was presented to us on a decorated platter. Since the hostess didn’t have a oven in her home, she had had the pig roasted in the communal neighborhood oven. We all tried at least a bit of it!!!
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