Peru: Cusco

Since i was all the way down in Panama it seemed like a good idea to try and do something useful besides slaving away at the resort. So Ben and i made a mini trip down to Peru with the goal of seeing Machu Picchu. To do that the typical route begins in Cusco, because there is an airport there.

Cusco is the historic capital of the Incan Empire but was built by Killkes around 900 A.D.. The Incans invaded the city in the 13th century. The Incans themselves had some of their own internal warfare going on from time to time and in 1527 it was conquered by a rival faction. Then only 19 months later it was invaded by the Spanish. So the Killkes built it and lived there for around 300 years, the Incans took over for the same amount of time, and the Spanish took it over for, once again, 300 years. Peru became independent in 1827, so we're getting close to 200 years of independence. That's interesting to me and kinda says nobody has a real claim to it more than anybody else. Sounds like the perfect recipe for endless strife.

All over the historic district of Cusco are women dressed in traditional attire. They are there for pictures. Many of them are very lazy about it. These women, for instance, wouldn't even pose or or pay attention but they each wanted a dollar and when i gave them five because that's all i had (there was a fourth one not pictured on the right) they were mad because they didn't want to share it.

An overhead view of Cusco. I loved that the town maintained its density right up to the point where it seemed to end in totally empty wildlands.

One of the more enjoyable things we did was take along walk back to our hotel from high up on one of the hills just outside of town, where we did not see the ruins of Saksaywaman. It offered nice panoramas of the city and was relaxing compared to downtown.

This street looked terrible.

Everywhere we went in Peru involved lots and lots of stairs.

One of the places we visited was Qurikancha, originally one of the most important temples, dedicated to the Sun God, in the Incan Empire. It was said to have floors and walls covered in gold. When the Spanish saw it they described it as "fabulous beyond belief", so they immediately destroyed it. Then, just to be jerks and really rub it into the faces of the Incans, they built their own church on top of it.

Some visitors take a break on the original Incan foundation wall of Quirikancha (right)

More of the temple grounds with the Church of Santo Domingo on the upper right. There is an underground museum beneath the grassy lawn.

A cool arch. That cylinder underneath is a very poorly placed garbage can, not a prayer wheel.

The Incan stonework is apparently earthquake proof.

Inside the museum you can see some of the original Incan buildings, now indoors. The edge of Spanish built courtyard is on the right.

Ben took this picture first and then i copied him because i have no originality.

Cool door.

Two "rival" churches in the famous Plaza de Armas

A school above the plaza. The distant mountains beckon.

Students and cobbled streets

Cusco is EXTREMELY touristy. When we first left the airport i found the city to be very exciting looking and couldn't wait to look around, but because of our itinerary we ended up visiting Cusco last, and by that point i was tired of the constant encounters with the deficiencies of Peru. All over the Plaza de Armas are women offering you "massages" and young men claiming to be starving artists who are dying to show you their portfolio. From time to time you will see the same paintings in different towns. They also hate making change. I had a lady refuse to sell me some postcards because she said she didn't have change. I don't know, maybe they end up making more money than they lose with that method of capitalism. On the other hand, we once had a cab driver refuse to take us somewhere close by because he simply didn't feel like going.

I don't know why but i liked this street corner with the hanging door and phone numbers.

Our hotel in Cusco was very comfortable but we were not there much.

Another big set of steps. Someone had been counting them (below).

If you need strange religious items this store has you covered.

Somebody has to build all those cobbled streets

Higher up the hillside we encountered some nice places to live with yards behind walls.

Part II: Part I

To get to Cusco we flew from Lima, a desert city on the west coast. Lima had what initially came across as a pretty neat airport. Then we started noticing all the weird stuff. Customs was super easy to get through, but then you have to leave the airport and walk along the outside of it to get back in to the area where you can catch your connecting flight. There was a large crowd of people trying to get back in to the ticketing area but you aren't even allowed to go through the front doors unless you show your passport. Lima had very polluted air. It smelled, in fact, and visibility was limited to just a few miles at sea level both on arrival and departure.

Lima is a huge city, with 9 million people. It went on forever. In the background is a large desert island.

Flying into the Andes was pretty interesting because the mountains shoot up immediately and ferociously within site of Lima, and the jet had to climb steeply to get to a decent altitude. As we gained altitude the mountains rose at the same rate so for a long time we weren't far from the ground. Even at cruising altitude the high Andes get over 20,000 feet so the view from the plane looks a lot closer than normal.

The first thing you encounter leaving Lima (or arriving) is extremely dry desert mountains. Above you can see the ocean in the background. There really isn't much space between the sea and the mountains.

Farther inland things start to get greener while the mountains get larger.

Here you can see a town in the center of the picture that looks to be hanging onto the side of the biggest cliff on earth. It's actually a trick of perspective, but not much of one. In the lower right is a nice looking lake that appears black.

For a time we crossed a colorful highland plateau that had an impressive lack of roads.

Landing in Cusco was fun too, since the city is in a mountain valley at an altitude of 11,000 feet. Upon landing you will immediately begin getting ripped off with offers of very overpriced tours and bottled oxygen for sale. The altitude can be quite a shock but our hotel, which was pretty nice, had oxygen automatically pumped into the room!