After arriving to our new hotel in Cusco, Peru, we were given coca tee and escorted to our room. The layout of the hotel is quite different: there are two courtyards, one is basically the center of the hotel and the other is in the middle of all of the rooms. It’s also mostly outside, so at night it’s freezing to walk the hallways!
We met our Backroads group in the lobby courtyard to introduce ourselves and go over the itinerary for the week. We were also given goodie bags with tissues used for the Green Latrine (the bathroom in the great outdoors), hand sanitizer, and a few maps of Cusco.
After a quick bite to eat at the hotel with our group, we left with our guides and met our local guide, Jose Tito, a 32-year-old Peruvian man with overflowing energy and a seemingly local sense of humor. His descriptions of each historical part of the city were extravagantly detailed.
We traveled through the streets of Cusco, took in the scenery at La Plaza de Las Armas, trekked the stairs and narrow alleyways to a lookout point by Plaza San Cristobal, walked through El Templo San Blas, and finished our tour at the Catedral.
La Plaza de Las Armas in Cusco, Peru
Hundreds of years ago, the plaza was home to many sacrifices to the God of the Sun, Inti. As years went on, they wanted to cut down the trees and rid the plaza of the entire flora, yet some inhabitants refused.
They tied themselves to trees to prohibit the city from cutting the trees down. They were successful with a few trees, but the rest did not make it. At one time, there were train tracks running through the main plaza and at another time there was a market.
Now it resides as more of a tourist location with a McDonalds and a KFC built into the buildings. The buildings are a mixture of Incan and colonial influences, with a distinct marking of the different materials used.
Plaza San Cristobal
This plaza marks a looking point to see the layout of Cusco. We were also able to see the Monasterio Hotel (my hotel for these first 2 nights) because there is a 300 year-old Cyprus tree in the center of the courtyard. It sticks far above the rooftop and is seen from our lookout. Can you spot it? (Hint: Center-right with a darkish rectangular hole surrounding the tree)
El Templo San Blas
The Incan architecture is on display at the Temple (mostly known as the Temple of the Sun). These temples are the Temples of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. The small buildings made out of a specific ype of granite took over 40 years to build.
Catedral in Cusco, Peru
Within the Cathedral, there is an alter a few feet away from the entrance of the cathedral. Instead of having to walk the entire aisle, it’s right in front of you. It’s one of the few churches in the world with an alter right in front of the door. Another interesting fact, my new favorite, is that there is a brown Jesus (to look Peruvian) hanging on the wall with over 300 skirt options to choose from.
When a family helps to organize the annual carnival during Holy Week to honor Jesus and rid their sins in La Plaza de Las Armas, the family will donate a skirt to the collection.
Since walking for three hours really wears you out, especially after it begins pouring and then hailing, we were able to rest for two hours before dinner at the hotel.
I was a brave soul tonight. I tried duck. It was a duck prosciutto to be exact. I felt bad for the poor little fellow cause they’re just so cute, but it was quite yummy. I also tried a different type of ceviche tonight (also delicious, but it freaks me out since it’s raw).
Today marks the beginning of my Backroads trip starting in Cusco, Peru – hopefully with marvelous things to come!!
Wow Dani, you’re really expanding your palette! Duck, ceviche, nice! Probably gets worse has you head further up into the mountains 🙂
Probably!! Who knows if I’ll try the alpaca and guinea pig!