Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So Cusco part 2 was much better. We arrived from Pisaq/Sacred Valley to Cusco in the afternoon on the 4th. But we came in from a collectivo and were dropped off in a part of the city that we had never seen before. So we get our giant backpacks and start walking just trying to find Plaza de Armas, since that's the main square. After asking a few people and walking for about 20 minutes we find the main square and make our way to San Blas, which is the bohemian district. We got to the district and started walking up to hostels and hospedajes to see if they had room for us, we were unsuccessful after we asked about six different places. But then we came across one that was recommended to us called La Boheme which is also a crepe place and this is where we stayed for four nights. BEST HOSTEL IN PERU! Great location, friendly staff, awesome vibe and included crepes for breakfast, and it was less than $10USD a night.
We spent our four days here trying to utilize our boleto turistico as much as possible. We went to five museums/art museums in total and visited another Inca ruin site. The first one was my least favorite I admit, Museo de Arte Popular, because it was all Catholic art and many pieces were depicting the injustices done to the indigenous hundreds of years ago. The second one was El Museo de Sitio de Qoricancha, which was more about archaeology and history which I have more interest in. Then we went to the Contemporary Art Museum which was more interesting and showcased art that depicted indigenous people and Inca theology. Lastly, we visited el Museo de Historia Regional which was half awesome half awful. The first floor was all history and archaeology which was great and then the second floor was all catholic art again and more terrible pieces of the slaughter of Tupac Amaru. Our last museum site in Cusco we visited was the Monumento Pachecuteq which was not close to anything else in town.
Pachecuteq is believed to have been the innovator and mastermind of the construction of Cusco and Machu Picchu. Apparently it was his idea to build Cusco into the shape of a puma. Honestly the information there was kind of conflicting because several times were mentioned how he was a historical figure and was the reason why the Inca became so successful but then it is also mentioned how he was a mythical figure. But I guess that's history, no matter what all we have are speculations and ideas. But the walk down to the monument was interesting.
As we were walking to it, it started dumping rain and then hailing. We thought we were here in the dry season, but I guess it still rains and hails then. When we made it to the monument we first thought it was just a giant sculpture on top of a tower but turned out we could go inside and walk to the top, which overlooked the city of Cusco.
However, the most eventful activity this time in Cusco was visiting the ruins of Saqsaywaman, which is basically pronounced like sexy woman. We hiked up the hill and visited the ruins for a couple of hours. We were accompanied by our new Aussie friend, Dan, who we met at our hostel. He's an awesome 50 year old guy and we spent our last day in Cusco with him most the day. On our last night in Cusco we went out to a bar to listen to a local Peruvian band play. Otherwise the only other noteworthy thing about our second trip to Cusco was the food. There are so many veggie friendly restaurants and options, it was great. From Cusco, we are taking a morning bus down to Puno which is right next to Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side. So I'll post a blog from Puno within a couple days and then we'll be in Bolivia. :)
- comments