Up to this point it had been a real whirlwind of travel, going from LA to Quito, Ecuador and then catching an early morning flight to Cusco, Peru. This was to be the launching point for our trek to Machu Picchu. Since we knew that there was risk of altitude sickness on our trek, we decided to arrive in Cusco about 5 days early in order to maximize our acclimation to the altitude.
We arrived in Cusco under bright, sunny skies. One of the first things we noticed was that breathing was a little bit more difficult (3500m above sea level). If we took our time when we walked, then there was no problem, but running or walking quickly resulted in us being short of breath quite quickly.
On advice from various internet forums we rested, drank lots of water, ate lightly, and chewed coca leaves (native to Peru) in order to lessen the effects of the altitude.
However, this does not mean that we simply sat around all day in our room and slept! No! We had to check things out in Cusco!
As it happened, we arrived just in time for the Peruvian Independence Day! I thought the festivities might last for a day or two…maybe over the weekend…but they simply never stopped and lasted an entire week! It started with a full day of parades in the main square!
There were all sorts of different groups marching – schools, military and civilian organizations. There were lots of different bands, sometimes playing different tunes at the same time! It was an amazing spectacle to see.
One thing we learned was that Cusco used to be the capital of the Inca empire, essentially created by the ninth Inca Emperor Pachacuti (who resides at the top of a fountain in the main square at Plaza des Armas).
Pachicuti was a builder, and led the drive to construct numerous buildings, including Machu Picchu. In Cusco, the main square was built in his time and remains in use today.
Like Rome, all roads and trails in the Inca empire led to Cusco which was considered to be the “centre” of the empire. When the Spanish conquered the Incans in the 1500s, one of the first things they did was to destroy many of the buildings. In some cases they completely demolished them, while in other cases they took the top parts of the buildings down, and built on top of the Inca foundations. The result is a mix of Inca and colonial architecture, often side-by-side or stacked on top of one another. In this alley we found perfect examples of Inca and colonial architecture side by side.
Inca…
If you look at the wall on the right you can see that the stones are very close together. What I found amazing was that there is no mortar or any sort of cement to hold them together. The stones fit so well that you cannot slide a blade of grass between any two stones. How did they do this? What tools did they use? It remains a mystery. These stones have protrusions where the Incas may have used ropes to drag the stones to the building site and/or used wooden poles or other supports to hoist and hold them in place during construction. Unfortunately the knowledge seems to have been lost.
This is colonial architecture…and you should be able to see the difference almost immediately.
Here, you can see that the stones are not tightly pressed together and are held in place with mortar. It was really interesting to see the two different styles right next to one another like this.
On Saturday’s there is a huge local market outside the city core that is not known to the tourists. We heard about it through the owners of an Air BnB room we were renting, and they offered to take us when they went. At this market people come from miles around, often driving 5-6 hours with their goods for sale.
And it is huge!
This is an authentic local market, and you can find just about anything you might need. Like baby chicks for 10 cents or cuy (pronounced coo-ee = guinea pigs)…
The women still dress in their traditional clothing, always topped with their signature bowler hats.
If you want milk, you can get it fresh…and raw…
Meat, fish, chicken…
Potatoes, vegetables and grains…
We have seen a lot of markets throughout our travels, including the outdoor market in Hong Kong, Siem Reap, the unforgettable riverside market in Hoi An Vietnam…just to mention a few – but this market was enormous, very clean and had some really unique products! We highly recommend it!
Cusco is a beautiful city by day, and absolutely gorgeous by night.
We really enjoyed our time here and would like to spread the word that this is not a city that should be underestimated! There are many things to see and do in and around town…which you will learn more about in our upcoming posts!
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