February 24, 25, 2015
Today we gathered our stuff and were off to Cusco with Raúl and Mariana.
We made a few pitstops along the way to see various points of interest. Mariana and I bought alpaca fur hats at a roadside stand, ($30). Guess I'll will have to wait until next winter to actually wear it....not that I'm complaining! Mariana also bought a personalized license plate which Rainer customized with a maple leaf sticker on the Peruvian flag.
Our hotel for two nights in Cusco is an interesting spot, a former monastery attached to an Inca temple. The view from our open air lobby is very stunning, the Convento de Santo Domingo!
We've been intrigued with the Guinea pig so took the opportunity to grab one in a small village which specializes in them. There's even a statue in the middle of town (Lamay) to commemorate the fur balls. Mmmmm, crunchy Guinea pig on a stick with boiled potatoes on the side. The meat itself is not offensive but still creeps me out a bit, especially with the head and claws intact. They even eat the head and crush it to find a little bone, which, if found, they drink down in a glass of cerveza for luck! When they told how us how they kill them by twisting their little necks it made them so much more appetizing... Try Guinea pig....check.
We've visited the Convento de Santo Domingo del Cusco and Basílica Catedral, the latter which amounts to three churches in one, in all its splendor, dripping in gold and silver. We also took in a small museum featuring the history of alpacas and llamas and a beautiful shop which demonstrated the wool-dying process and how the women weave each intricate masterpiece. It truly is an art.
We've enjoyed all of our stops and meeting new locals, from 12 year old Reubin, who was selling whistles (yes, we have some) to the sweet old woman who sat with us in the van for a short while. We dropped by a shop that touts the best coffee in the world. It ain't no Timmys, but it's up there. 😃 Some excellent restaurants too.
A long overdue hair cut for Rainer cost a whopping three bucks!
We had a nice dinner overlooking the main town square. We had to avoid the place earlier as someone is a sucker for kids flogging things and ended up with eight hats, some ceramic whistles etc. (Act surprised if he gives you one!) Cusco has to be the place with the most aggressive street sales. Every time we leave our hotel we have to look left and right as Valentino is under the impression that we need some knock off art. They have all the sales gimmicks down pat, including the little girls who can rhyme off our capital, prime ministers and US presidents back to the beginning of Christ just to get the comms ball rolling. It works!
It's considered good luck to put two little bulls on your roof in the Sacred Valley and Cusco areas, some even put beer or wine up there too, for good measure. Cute!
We bid a tearful goodbye to Raúl and Mariana who have been with us since February 15th here in Peru so they're like famiiy.
We caught the train from Ollayantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, where we will stay two nights. It is from there that we will bus to Machu Picchu! There's no other way in, no raods, unless you fancy the four day hike on the Inca trail. Even the buses for Machu Picchu were brought in by train.
