Helen's Andean Adventure

Long-awaited trip to Peru

Cusco (Saturday):
Meg and I got up bright and early and got on a plane to Cusco, Peru.We were picked up by our hotel owner and taken first to the Perurail office to buy our train ticket to Macchu Pichu, then to the hotel to drop off our things, and then to Cusco downtown to begin our Peruvian adventures.
Cusco is a very historic, beautiful and definitely unique place.It is very different from La Paz as it has more evidences of the Spanish colonial presence...many cobblestone roads, churches and cathedrals of a different style that in Bolivia (more of a colonial Baroque style), and typical Spanish-style houses with courtyards inside (see picture below).After eating a delicious lunch of alpaca steak, we embarked on a trip to the nearest Inca ruins, the names of which I wouldn't be able to pronounce.We walked around the ruins, sat on the Inca throne,got soaked in the rain and hail on the way to the other ruins (named Q'enko), where we did some cave exploring, and then returned to the city.
There we toured around the magnificent Catedral with amazing paintings and carvings inside.Then we went to another very interesting place called Qoricancha/Convento de Santo Domingo, which combines an ancient Inca temple with a Catholic convent built on top of it.The ruins of the Inca infrastructure are still there side by side with the Catholic structures.After this tour, we rushed off to another interesting church called the Iglesia de San Blas (church of Saint Blaise), where the paintings on the walls told us the story of this saint, who lived in the third century and was a throat doctor as well as an avid defender of Catholic faith.He was later captured and beheaded by the Romans.The barrio (neighborhood) of San Blas has narrow cobblestone streets and is famous for its abundance of artesan shops.There, Meg and I did some shopping and then rushed off to see a performance of traditional peruvian dance and music.
The picture above is of the Cusco cathedral, and below are the view of Cuzco from the ruins and of Meg and me sitting on the Inca throne.

posted by HM @ 9:13 PM