PERU 2025
Cusco
Cusco (or Cuzco) was originally founded in the 13th century as the capital of the Inca Empire. The region was conquered in the 16th-century by the Spanish and re-established with most of the city being constructed over monuments left from the Inca Empire. In 1983, Cusco was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The altitude of 3,399 meters here, is not perfect for hiking up hills.
Day 6
After a long noisy night, we slept in and skipped breakfast. Turns out that the location of this hotel is not even close to the main square and historic center of the city. We would have a bit of a walk to the old part of town, and to make things smoother we contacted Exoticca to meet at Plaza de Armas for our afternoon tour, instead of being picked up at our hotel, less backtracking.
We got caught in the biggest tourist trap by oohing and aahing at the baby Alpaca across the road. Two girls with an Alpaca and a baby sheep waved us over to get our pictures taken with them. I know it's a trap, but it was worth every last Peru Soles that we paid.
Look at his face, I'm pretty sure that Alpaca was in on the scam
We needed to get some more Peruvian Soles after paying off the Alpaca, and we were surprised to see a Canadian Scotiabank right around the corner. Especially surprised to see it's courtyard with a fountain and attached museum.
The buildings and statues around the Plaza de Armas are truly historic, but knowing we would be back here for an afternoon walking tour, we kept walking up towards Sasqaywoman archaeological site which was recommended to us. The up part of that walk definitely showed that the air was a little thin here in Cusco.
The weather didn't seem too bad when we left, one minute there is blue sky, and the next minute a sudden rain/hail storm forced us to duck for cover, so we paid to go in the Church of San Cristobal, originally built after the Spanish conquered Cusco.
Just as we are about to walk up to the entrance to Saqsaywaman, a man whose family runs this store convinced us to pay him as a driver and see 4 Inca ruin sites instead of just 1 (in 2 hours as we had a walking tour at 2:00). His daughter even gave us a free plastic poncho and umbrella to use. Good thing because this is what a herd of horses looks like through the window.
The first stop he takes us to is the archaeological site of Tambomachay, also known as the "Bath of the Inca", it was a place dedicated to water worship and as a resting place for the Inca nobility. Tambomachay consists of a series of gutters, aqueducts, several waterfalls that flow from the rocks and a royal garden whose irrigation system came from a whole system of channels.
Our second stop was Puka Pukara, also known as the “Red Fortress". Historians believe that Puka Pukara was built in the 15th century, during the reign of the Inca Pachacuti or possibly his successors. Unlike Machu Picchu or Ollantaytambo, Puka Pukara was not a large settlement but rather a military and administrative outpost. Its strategic purpose was to guard the access to Cusco and to control the routes leading toward the Sacred Valley and the Amazon. Because of its location on a high hill at an altitude of around 3,580 meters (11,745 feet) above sea level, it offered an excellent vantage point for monitoring travellers and potential enemies.
Our third stop was Q'enqo. This intriguing place, whose name means “labyrinth” or “zigzag” in Quechua, is filled with winding passages, carved rocks, and mysterious altars that tell us about the Inca world view, rituals, and connection with nature. Historians believe that Q’enqo was built during the height of the Inca Empire (15th century). While its exact purpose is still debated, it is generally accepted that this site played an important role in religious ceremonies, such as the worship of Pachamama (Mother Earth), as well as astronomical observations.
Our final stop on our whirlwind tour was Saqsaywaman, the place we originally came up here to see. Sacsayhuamán or Saksaywaman was built in the 15th century, over 20,000 workers transported colossal stone blocks, some weighing up to 125 tons, from quarries located 20 kilometers away (12.43 miles). During the Spanish invasion, Sacsayhuamán became the stage for the 1536 uprising led by Manco Inca, who briefly reclaimed the fortress in a fierce rebellion. However, the Spanish eventually seized control due to their strategic dominance over Cusco. During the colonial era, the Spanish dismantled much of Sacsayhuamán and repurposed its stones to build churches and mansions in their new city. Only the gigantic foundation walls remained, too immense to be moved.
We probably should have noticed the 666 license plate before we climbed in that van, but he got us to Plaza de Armas right on time. Sometimes it's the non-planned parts of trips that are the best parts.
There's a big celebration going on in the square, local dancers, with live music. We don't have much time to appreciate them, as we have to meet our guide for our afternoon walking tour of Cusco.
The Plaza de Armas in Cusco features two main cathedrals: the Basilica Cathedral of Cusco and the Church of the Society of Jesus. The main structure consists of two parts; Iglesia del Triunfo and the Catedral del Cuzco. The Cathedral is a large colonial landmark with a mix of Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque styles, built on the ruins of an Inca temple called the Kiswarkancha. The Church of the Society of Jesus, also built by the Spanish on the site of a former Inca palace, is the other prominent religious building on the square. Our tour started at the entrance to the Basilica Cathedral.
The problem was, our walking tour ended up being a standing around listening to a guy talk tour. The Cathedral took almost 2 hours, 2 hours of details that nobody needed, and a talking style that was... annoying. People in our group would drift away as he described the detail of skin colour in a... painting. His dramatic style was dull, slow and... uninteresting.
Bonus images of the Cusco Cathedral were shared and found via a link they provided on a bookmark, because they didn't want us taking pictures. The smartest Cathedrals we found in Europe just asked for a Photo fee if you wanted to take pictures, or at least have a nice selection of postcards so that you can take your memories away with you.
Questions were asked about Jesus wearing a skirt, and we were told they are based on local village textiles and patterns. When he was asked if the figures below were praying to the lamb at the top of an image, our guide sharply replied "NO", and walked away.
When we finally came out of the cathedral, there was a march/protest/celebration going around the square, no explanation was given.
One of these 2 photos of Kusicancha was taken in the morning, can you guess which one?
We also walked right past Kusicancha, which is believed to be the birthplace of the legendary Inca emperor, Pachacutec, who reigned from 1438 to 1471. While much of the original structure has been lost, the remaining ruins are still impressive and offer an insight into Inca life. I learned this on the internet, because our guide had nothing to say about it.
From the Cathedral, we walked to the Museo de Sitio Qoricancha. Formerly the Koricancha Temple, now a Dominican church museum, and he rambled on there too. We stood in front of 6 sign boards we could have read ourselves, and listened to him drone on about the history of the... Incas, and the long drawn out story of... Cusco.
These aligned windows and this little lock stone took 15 minutes to... discuss.
A few people just wandered away and left. We were finally given 10 minutes to explore, so Norine, Leslie from San Diego and I went on to the upper balconies and up the bell tower.
We're checking out the balconies after seeing the bells, and he’s yelling at us to come down and join the group. We come down and he says “just 20 minutes to talk about this... painting”. I just about lost it at that point. Then he went on to one more piece of art, blah blah blah, something about... aliens. It might have been interesting, but he had lost me by...then.
Suddenly the tours over... This is not what we were... promised.
Today, set off on a fascinating half-day tour of Cuzco. Begin in the iconic Plaza de Armas, and visit the Cathedral. From here, walk to the Koricancha Temple, an impressive ancient Inca palace, in honour of the Sun God. Today, a Dominican church stands on the site. Finally, visit the lively San Blas neighbourhood, known for its artists, shops and artisan workshops.
We got over 3 hours of droning on and standing around at the cathedral and a museum, nothing about Plaza de Armas, no visit to the San Blas neighborhood. Then it was on the bus and back to the hotel. They dropped us off behind the hotel and he told us to just cross the train tracks. I can honestly say, it was one of the the worst tours we have done in so many years of... travelling.
Hoping for better things, we signed up for the Tunupa dinner show, 16 of us from Exoticca, Peruvian food and a show. A bus picked us up at our hotel, and after finally convincing them that one of the couples wasn't coming after the afternoons walking tour, we headed back to Cusco's main square, and the Tunupa restaurant.
We had fancy local fruit drinks, and I ate an Alpaca steak... I know, I know.
We got an introduction to their local instruments, including 6 different sizes of pan flutes. Then we continued to be entertained with local music, local costumes, local dances and Peruvian stories.
It was a really fun night, with good food and entertainment, and more importantly a chance to spend more time with our Exoticca fellow travelers. Some of them would be moving on to Ecuador from here, so we got one last chance to say our goodbyes and well wishes for their future travels. One oddity is that we found one of the couples we had been travelling with got seated by themselves around the corner, I guess because they didn't take the bus to the restaurant?
Back past the monument to Pachacutec, whose name means “the one who overturns space and time”, he was the ninth ruler of the Inca Empire and one of the most influential figures in Andean history. During his reign in the 15th century, he reorganized Cusco, expanded Inca territory, and laid the foundations of what would become the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. He is also credited with initiating the construction of Machu Picchu, one of the world's most iconic wonders.
We are dropped at the front door to our hotel and it's early to bed, as our bus would pick us up at 6:30am for the 11 hour ride to our next stop.