Cusco

My 2 days in Cusco were my first experience traveling alone since college, and I was both excited and nervous for it. It started out on a not-so-auspicious note that turned out well--after killing time at the bus station between when Taylor and Heidi left for the flight back to Lima and when my bus was supposed to leave, I discovered that my bus had been cancelled. Fortunately, they put me on a new bus that only left 30 minutes after the original, and I started chatting with the other couple (Annette and Steve) who was also in my situation. The bus ride itself was actually quite pleasant, although I made things harder for myself by second-guessing when we would arrive. I had made a hostel reservation in Cusco a few days earlier, because I didn't want to deal with finding a hostel at 10:00 pm alone. After some prior stress about where I would stay in Cusco, I ended up calling a hostel that was somehow affiliated with the place we stayed in Arequipa, because it was cheap and nice enough. Also, they said they would pick me up at the bus station--great, no need to deal with the taxis! So when we left Puno 30 minutes later than I expected and we made some extra stops along the way, I figured we would arrive nearly an hour after I had told them to pick me up and I felt bad. So I psyched myself up to make another phone call in Spanish, and I asked them to come at 11. Then, somehow, we arrived in Cusco at 10:15. I probably would have waited for the pick up, but Steve and Annette decided they wanted to come with me so I called the hostel *again* and told them (or at least, communicated) that there were 3 of us and we were taking a taxi. That all worked out fine, except that I think my pick-up still went to the bus station and I felt bad about all the trouble I put them through, just because I had a reservation and a cell phone. So I didn't even consider looking for a different hostel, even though that place wasn't all that nice (Annette and Steve left after 1 night). But, it had (mostly) hot water and the duenos were *super* nice, so I was happy.

Monday I had initially planned to explore the city, but I started the day by walking up to a ruins site above the city and I ended up buying a ticket to visit 4 ruins that were sort of in a circuit. So I spent nearly the whole day walking around the countryside outside of Cusco. And I'm really glad I did, despite the overpriced cost of admission, because the weather was beautiful and it was really relaxing. Here's a view of the center of Cusco from where I started my walk:

And here's one of the many pictures I took of the first and most famous site I visited, Sacsayhuaman. This is a pretty good shot of the famous Inca stonework, perfectly cut and fit together with no mortar.

Other highlights of the afternoon included meeting a random Peruvian guy at one of other ruins who wanted to swap taking pictures, so I actually have some pictures of myself from this day; take a taxi between 2 of the sites for 1 sol (~30 cents) and chatting with the driver; and walking all the way back down into the city and then exploring the backroads because the public bus never came. By the time I was down I was starving, and although the fixed menu at the first restaurant I saw wasn't that great, it had the nicest bathroom I've seen in all of Peru, inclusive of my office. These are the benefits of a tourist area.

After lunch, which was really almost 5:00, I walked down to the Plaza de Armas for the first time, and the light was amazing because storm clouds were rolling in. Here's my picture of the Cusco cathedral.

I went to pay the balance of my Inca Trail trip, and when I came back out the rain had started and there was an amazing rainbow over the plaza. I tried to take one last shot of the fountain in the plaza before it got dark, and I caught this:

I met up with Steve and Annette for dinner, which was great because I was not looking forward to eating dinner alone. They brought another couple they had met, and it was a fun time.

Tuesday I did visited 2 tourist sites--the Inca Museum and the Cathedral--but mostly I just walked around the city. My choice of activities was driven by the fact that I decided not to buy the main tourist ticket that is required at most of the main attractions. It is expensive (although the 4 ruins ticket, the cathedral, and the museum were expensive on their own too), and I didn't want to feel like I had to see everything in 2 days or less. So instead I did what I think most tourists either have no interest or no time to do, which is step off the Plaza de Armas and discover that real people actually live in Cusco. It actually surprised me how *easy* it was to find real life in Cusco--from the quiet streets on the hill near my hotel to the busy commercial streets where people bought cheap atlethicware rather than handmade alpaca sweaters. The best part of the day was lunch, where I found a cute restaurant serving a delicious fixed lunch menu for s/3 (less than $1). And I know I picked well because soon after I arrived the place filled up and I was definitely the only gringa there.

I wonder if it is always this easy to escape, despite the fact that Cusco is the tourist capital of Peru, or if during the high season of July and August the tourist population swells to just too large to avoid. That's definitely one thing that made this trip great--during both weeks, with only a few exceptions, our visits did not seem overly touristy despite the fact that we hit the main attractions (e.g. the islands on Titicaca, and even Machu Picchu). I'll definitely take the threat of rain in exchange for more peace and authenticity while traveling. Of course, I'm also already envisioning a trip back in the indefinite future, to visit all the sites I missed and hire guides to explain all the stuff I just took in visually (like the ruins and the cathedral), and I would love clear blue skies for that too. I fear how much all that will cost since prices for the tourist tickets have doubled in just the last 2 years, but someday...