Peru: Cusco City Tour (Day 4)

We set the alarm for 6 a.m. but didn't get up until about 7 a.m.  I laid in bed for a few extra minutes and Mom got up for a shower.  I got ready to go while she showered.  I put on pants and my vest because it was a little chilly this morning.  We all went out to the dining room area for breakfast.  There were a lot of items to choose from.  We had this puffed wheat/quinoa cereal, yogurt, breads, butter, jelly, cheese, meat, fruit (watermelon, honey dew and mango) and fresh squeezed orange juice.  We chatted about what we thought the day was going to go like, what we were going to see and just being able to travel again.  We were excited to start our adventures.

We finished up, used the restroom one more time and met up with our rep, Alexandria in the hotel lobby.  

We introduced ourselves and she took us down the street from our hotel and showed us many points of interest including an old family in town that owns many shops, the 12 sided keystone on a very old Inca building that the stones are very precise however someone with lots of money took over the building and turned it into a more modern building with the ancient stones as the foundation.  She talked about some of the other ruins in town and how they are being preserved and then added about some of the ways the Incas lived and some of their customs.  I just couldn't believe we were actually looking at something that was around thousands of years ago and it was still here!

We followed Alexandria to our next stop which was Qorikancha, a temple hundreds of years ago but now a museum in town that we had to have a ticket for.  We spent most of the time walking from room to room listening to Alexandria teach us about the history, architecture and the ongoing education about how the Incas lived.  It was pretty cool actually being here and learning about this stuff rather than reading it in a history book like we did when we were in school.  It is more interesting and fulfilling being here learning about it.  We learned the difference between Incan and Spanish architecture and how the Dominican Republic also played a role in the shaping of Cusco and the surrounding areas.  We took a few pictures and got a couple of group pictures in the court yard. 

We hopped in the van and they took us to San Pedro, a huge local indoor market in the San Francisco Square.  We spent some time looking at the various food, wares, clothing and knick-knacks they were selling at their booths.  They sold various juices, fish, chocolates, spices, fruits, veggies, potatoes, candies, chicken, beef, pork, shirts, hats, scarfs, etc.  We tried a couple new fruits called cherimoya and granadilla, a type of passion fruit.  Both were delicious.  We walked around some more and ended up buying some chocolate.  Amy bought some lemon/chamomile liquid that is suppose to help with the high altitude.  You are suppose to put some of it in your hand, clap them together and inhale the fumes.  It was interesting.  We finished up at the market and we hopped  in our van with Alexandria.

We were taken up the hill to Saqsaywaman, a historical architectural site, on the northern outskirts of Cusco.  On the way up, I took some photos from the van so I could do the earthcache, Mirador de San Cristobal (GC70B4N).  It asked me questions about the elevation and relief of Cusco.  We parked, walked to the entrance and had our tickets punched.  We went inside and Alexandria told us about some history of this place before we walked around.  We saw some wild alpacas near the ruins and yes I took some pictures of them.  We followed the trail along the ruins and up to the top.  I did the earthcache, Striated Extrusion of Sacsayhuaman (GC2Q45T) while we listened to our guide.  We had a great view of Cusco from there.  We chatted, she told us what some of the buildings were, why they were painted certain colors and told us about some of the huge parties they used to have before Covid.  She took us around the trails and talked about some of the things we do with our families, pets, etc.  I found out she enjoyed soccer and spent her childhood going to games in Lima with her Dad.  I told her that we go to Seattle Sounders games and she recognized the team because Raul Ruidiaz plays for the Sounders and he is from Lima.  It was a nice conversation we had with her.  

When the tour was finished, Rhonda, Amy and I went to use the public restroom and it was pretty gross.  There wasn't any toilet paper but they had some soap and water.  Thankfully, we bring our own toilet paper when we are in South America because a lot of places don't have any or make you pay for some toilet paper.  It's usually 25 cents.  We walked out to where the van picked us back up and took us to the town square and the Basilica.  Along the way, we showed each other pictures of where we live.  Mom found a Mount Rainier photo to show her and I found some Seattle pictures on my phone to show her.  She said she really wanted to visit Seattle someday and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  We told her to get a hold of us if she is ever in Seattle.

The driver dropped us off and we walked up the stairs to the Basilica and had our tickets taken.  She took us around the Cathedral and told us a lot about the history depicted in a lot of the statues, paintings and architecture.  Cusco is known for its silver so this Basilica had a lot of silver inside of it.  She talked about pacha mamma (mother Earth), the Madonna's and black Jesus.  The Spanish, Dominicans and Incan's ruined a lot of the native history, artifacts and buildings of the Quechua people.  We didn't take pictures of inside the Basilica because it's frowned upon.  

After the visit to the Basilica, we decided what we were going to eat for late lunch/early dinner at the town square or Plaza de Armas.  They had fast food such as KFC, McDonald's and Starbucks and other restaurants that served traditional Peruvian food.  We asked Alexandria what she suggested since she is from the area and she said InkaGrill.  We all had water, Amy and I had quinoa with chicken, Mom had steak and potatoes, Rhonda had a river trout salad and Alexandria had a chicken and rice meal.  The food was really good.  It was probably one of the best meals I had while we were down in Peru.  Amy was very kind and offered to pay for Alexandria's food.  

We paid our waiter and Alexandria walked us back to the hotel.  There, we relaxed a bit.  We talked as a group about tomorrow's activities and when we needed to be ready and have breakfast by.  I showered, posted pictures to Facebook, downloaded photos off of Mom's camera, tried to cast football to our TV but it didn't want to.  We did manage to stream tennis and one college football game to work finally.  I talked to Ben for a little bit and asked how his day went.  We got ready for bed, I wrote in my journal for a little while and then went to bed around 10:30 p.m.  The altitude wasn't as bad on us today.  I actually felt pretty good and no headaches.

Next Adventure:  Peru:  The Sacred Valley Tour (Day 5)