Today is our last full day in Cusco. We had come early to acclimatize to the altitude so we'd be ready for our tour which starts midday tomorrow. We decided to test our acclimatization by hiking up to Sacsaywaman, which is either a temple or military installation built between 1000 and the late 1400s by the Inkans. It's a little over a mile from the Plaza de Armas, but a mile with a gain of about 1200 feet, meaning straight up. This first photo is Sandra on the Resbalosa Via Peatonal (a via peatonal is paved like a street, but is only wide enought for pedestrians).
When we got even just part way up, we had beautiful views of the city and the mountains beyond. Our camera doesn't do this great, but where the white on the horizon is, there is a snow-capped mountain.
Also on the way up, we encountered a woman with an alpaca who offered for us to take a photo. We've encountered lots of these entrepreneurs. On the Plaza de Armas, we have been constantly approached by people selling souvenirs, hats, jewelry, shoe shines, paintings, ice cream, chicharrones (cracklings), parched corn, hats, folding seats, parasols, and photos with traditionally dressed women and baby alpacas. We have bought some little colorful alpacas (keychains) to put on our seasonal tree, but mostly we've resisted. But I decided I wanted a photo with this woman and her alpaca. The cost was a voluntary "propina" (tip).
We made it to the park area and there were still many steps to go. We stopped to take off layers (it was about 36 degrees this morning, but with our climb we were ready for short sleeves). We had to rest a few times on our way to the top, but we made it. And I don't think it was much harder than it would have been if we hadn't been having to deal with the altitude. We didn't go into the park at the top because we'll be doing that with our tour tomorrow. We just wanted to make sure we could do it and we could! We did get to see some great Inkan stonework.
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| Sandra on the way up to Sacsaywaman |
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| These rocks are really big! |
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| Amazing Inkan stonework: No mortar, rocks fit tightly together |
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| A staircase |
After Sacsaywaman, we came home and had our cup of coca tea. Then we walked in the streets west of the Plaza de Armas where we hadn't been before to look at a place for lunch. We found a nice place right on the streets. It was good, but the vendors came onto the porch, so we had to deal with them all during the meal. That wasn't very pleasant.
After lunch, we tried to take a nap. The music went on all night last night using a loudspeaker, so it was hard to sleep. It got softer in the wee hours (maybe about 4am) when they quit using the loudspeaker, but then at 5:30am a band started marching around the Plaza: a very effective alarm clock. But we couldn't take a nap as they were testing the speakers for tonight's fandando and they are doing repairs somewere in the hotel. We are getting a little tired of this!
This photo of the front of the catedral is from this morning. We thought they had put a beer ad banner on the front of the church, but it's really on the front of the stage they are building in front of the church. If you look closely, you may see the giant speakers we'll be listening to tonight.
After not naps, we wanted to go through the Cathedral across the plaza from us. They've been setting up for tonight, which is in front of the catedral. They've put up barriers all around so it's hard to get to the door of the catedral. We did learn that the catedral was closed until 4:30 for a private function. So we decided to try to find Sandra more cough drops. I've figured out how to say it (from the package) "Queremos pastillas para dolor de la garganta": We want lozenges for pain in the throat. We walked and walked trying to find the place we went to before, but even though some places seemed familiar, we couldn't find it. I had to take out my Pocket Earth a couple of times to figure out where we were and how to get back to the cathedral. We did pass another botica and my new phrase worked like a charm for getting what we wanted. And we finally made it back to the Plaza de Armas, so we went to our hotel and I sat in the lobby and had more coca tea while Sandra went upstairs to drop off and pick up stuff.
We went back to the catedral and it was completely blocked off and the barriers are guarded by military types who looked like they meant business (are the performers tonight certified rock stars?). They said we had to go to the other side of the catedral (half a block away) and there was a passage to get us back to this side. So we did that and finally made it inside.
The catedral is really three churches: the main catedral and two smaller churches on the sides. It was built on the location of an Inkan temple and was built in part from stones taken from Sacsaywaman. It was finished after 100 years in 1654. There are many beautiful and elaborate altars along the sides, many carved from wood and then covered with gold or silver. There were also lots of paintings. My favorite was a painting of the last supper where the food was cuy (guinea pig) and other traditional peruvian foods. There were also the saints we've been watching parade the plaza for the last two days. They stay in the catedral for 7 days before going home. We lit a candle for Sandra's mother.
After the catedral, we were really tired. We walked around a bit looking for a new restaurant to try, but in the end went back to Inka Grill on the plaza because we knew they made good Pisco Sours and we wanted to celebrate our success in climbing up to Sacsaywaman. For dinner, Sandra got alpaca skewers. The sauce was tasty and the meat okay, but it was a bit tough and gamey.
It's been a long tiring day and we're ready to sleep, but tonight on the plaza is the "Night of Sound and Light." The sound is a super duper stage in front of the catedral complete with giant TVs on either side and huge speakers. The light is a light show on the front of the catedral and fireworks. If the fireworks come before we try to go to sleep, we should be able to see them perfectly outside our hotel window. We saw them preparing the launches about half way up the hill on our way to Sacsaywaman. So anyway, we're not feeling very confident we'll get much sleep tonight. I have to say, we'll be happy tomorrow night when we join the tour and our hotel is not right on the square. We could use a good night's sleep!
As I finish up writing this, we're listening to the loud rock band and screams of the crowd. Yesterday it was religious ecstacy, today, it's a rock concert! But in the end, we did get to watch the fabulous fireworks from the comfort of our bed.
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| Fireworks over Cusco |
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