Day 18: Downtown Cusco

I got an early taxi from Ollantaytambo to Cusco. I started my day having lunch at Kusykay Restaurant. My choice was an ají de gallina which was nicely done. After a full belly, I went to the local archaeological museum that has artifacts from pre-Incan and Incan times. There was tons of metallurgy, ceramic dishes and vessels, to name a few.

My next stop was the Museo del Sitio Qorikancha, a small museum under the Church and Monastery of Santo Domingo. There were mummies and human skulls on display. Incas used to mummify their dead. They also used to practice skull binding which made them conical or bifocal.

My next stop was the actual Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun), a fusion of Incan architecture and Spanish colonial architecture. The Spaniards built a Catholic Church on top of the old Incan temples. Many of the original Incan structures still stand and resisted the major earthquakes while the colonial structures failed. I got to see the rock with the fourteen vertices and six sides in the Temple of the Sun. The Incas always had three windows in their structures representing the three realms of the cosmos.

After the tour concluded, I bought an informational book about Peru and Machu Picchu written by a local cuzqueña to share with my children about what I learned. There was so much overload of information on all of my tours, it’s nice to process it on my own time later on as well.

I went back inside to the second floor to the bell tower, the views were gorgeous. The bells were massive and still had their etchings mostly intact from the 1700s. Once I concluded my visit, I headed to the municipal building which houses the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. The art was created by a local artist and represents Andean culture. I took a little walk about the municipal building.

Upon returning to my hotel and bundling up, I proceeded to head to the Centro de Cusco de Arte Nativo. I waited 40 minutes to watch local folkloric dances accompanied by a live band. The dances were beautiful with the dresses that represent different communities in the Andean region. At the end of the show, they encouraged audience participation on stage. It was a good time.

I was hungry at this point, so I went to Cappuccino Cafe on the second floor that faces Plaza de Armas. I waited almost an hour for a chicken soup and croissant and I ended up eating it in my hotel room 😭 due to me having to get up at 3:30 am for Rainbow Mountain tomorrow.Read more