Exploring Cusco

We had a relatively late start today, 9 a.m. and Cesar came and met us with a driver to take us on a tour of the city of Cusco. We haven’t actually had an opportunity to visit the sites here, just walk around in the evening. We were really looking forward to learning more about this beautiful city.

Cusco (or Cuzco) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a population of about 500,000. It was the capital of the Inca kingdom until the 16th century Spanish conquest. Most people use Cusco as their gateway to Machu Picchu.

Our first stop was to the ruins of an Inca fort, Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sort of like sexy woman😉) above Cusco, about a 15-minute drive from our hotel. In addition to seeing the ruins, it provided one of the most spectacular views of Cusco down below. From there, we went to another site which had been the Inca’s royal mortuary. It was where they prepared bodies for mummification.

Next, we drove down to the historic city centre and toured the Inca Koricancha temple which the Spanish turned into the Domingo Convent. The original Inca sections are still standing despite numerous earthquakes.

Our last stop was at the Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of the Assumption built by the Spanish. It took 108 years to build and and was completed in 1654. Unfortunately, no photography was permitted there.

It was now early afternoon and Brad and I were starving. Cesar suggested a couple of restaurants before we said our goodbyes. We chose Lido, a Nikkei restaurant. Delicious.

It was raining once we finished lunch so went back to our hotel to relax and pack our backpacks for our extremely early train to Machu Picchu tomorrow morning. We’ll be leaving our luggage at the hotel since we return to Cusco when we’re finished our two days in Machu Picchu.

For dinner, we chose a restaurant called Murano serving contemporary spins on traditional Peruvian food. Delicious.Read more