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Deep Fried Cuy in Cusco
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Coming into land in Cusco is spectacular as you come through the clouds and then see the Andes rising up before you...
As soon as we got off the plane you could feel the altitude and lack of oxygen in the air - it was a strange dizzy feeling and also a slight rocking sensation as if you had been on a boat in large swell all day and then were back on land.
We found a great named place to have some lunch ¨Yacky Mama´s¨ and thought we'd try out the Mate de Coca Tea to help with the altitude sickness - hot water infused with Cocaine leaves. Now before my mum has a fit - it's perfectly legal in Peru and it does work...
After lunch we went for a walk around Cusco and found it quite hard to breathe so decided to go for a nap to let our lungs and brains get accustomed to the thin air.
After a night waking up unable to breathe and freezing cold we actually felt much better the next morning. So with 2 full days to go before the Inca Trail we decided to try a walk uphill to some Inca Ruins above Cusco.
As soon as we turned the corner from the hotel we met our first llama...
as we were to discover this is a great money making ploy for the young children to wander around with llamas and lambs in traditional costume and get you to take their photo for a fee...There is such a visible level of child poverty in Cusco and we were pleased that the hotel (Niños) we had chosen was in a group set up by a woman from the Netherlands back in 1998.
The profits from the hotels are used give over 500 extremely neglected children in Cusco a daily hot meal and warm shower, medical and dental assistance and also homework and sports lessons.
So we took our pictures, gave our donation and headed up the hill to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like sexywoman).
Our first stop was at San Cristobal church - a good view of the town and a rest! On our way further up the hill we managed to pick up a guide aptly called Guido who took us around the entire Sacsayhuaman site.
We were amazed at the ability and knowledge of the Incas - they had all the walls at perfect 8 degree angles. The windows and doorways are all trapezoid to minimize the impact of earthquakes and some of the massive rocks making the corners of each zig zag on the lower level came from over 60km away. The site is still part of an archaeological dig and they are finding more and more walls and tunnels all the time.
Speaking of tunnels, at one point in the site we walked through a 10m pitch black tunnel, that got gradually thinner and shorter as you went along it, I managed to get through by holding onto the back of Alex's coat, not sure how he didn't manage to bang his head though! At the top of this hill there is also a mini version of Christ the Redeemer which was apparently donated to the people of Cusco by the Palestinians in the 1950s to thank them for looking after their refugees - we have no idea how or why the refugees got all they way up there...
After this site we headed to town for lunch and in the afternoon visited the Inca Museum and Qoricancha (the Sun Temple) at Santa Domingo. This was quite an odd place - a great Inca Temple with a Catholic church built around it. The stonework in Qoricancha was amazing - they didn't use any mortar and you can't fit a playing card between the stones.
It is such a shame that the Spaniards ever arrived in Cusco and the surrounding areas as they proceeded to smash everything up or use the stones to make churches, burn/pilfer all the Inca documents, steal all of the gold and force Catholicism on everyone. As a result, a lot of detail of how the Incas built their temples and the geometry and architectural knowledge has been lost forever.
At the end of the afternoon I couldn't resist a poke around the most expensive hotel in town "La Monasterio" which I had seen on the Travel Channel. As the name suggests it is a converted Monastery where they pump oxygen into your room if you are suffering from altitude sickness. It was very nice but at $700+ a night not quite in our budget.
On the Sunday morning we decided to try the local public bus and head to the next valley to the town of Pisac for their Sunday market. There were hundreds of stalls there with people coming from all around the valley to trade and sell their produce. Although they did sell deep fried guinea pig "cuy" we decided that with 4 days camping ahead of us that trying it there and then might not be the smartest move...
After a good bit of searching for a matching pair we now have a lovely set of baby alpaca rugs for the house that we haven't bought yet....but they were such a bargain !!
We headed back to Cusco for the afternoon to pack for the Inca Trail and to have our last nights sleep in a real bed before heading to the hills at 6am the next day...
Latest Comments (2)
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Don't do it!!!! (reply)
Jan 22, 2008 05:55 EST by snotface
OK I'm gonna ignore any comments about eating guinea pigs, you just know I'll be thinking about poor little Dougal, the only guinea pig with a mohican!!!
You guys look like you are having an amazing time! the photos are fantastic and the cocaine tea sounds very interesting, any chance of bringing some back? Purely for research you understand!
Have fun and stay safe!!!
Love yo... show all
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Big Bum In The Cooking Pot (reply)
Jan 21, 2008 16:30 EST by therickards
You certainly appear to be getting good value for money out of your trip so far.
If you keep on buying souveniers for your house you won't have room for The Dining Table.
Mum says 'go easy on the Cocaine Tea especially if you are driving'.
Dad.
X-X
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| 7. | Deep Fried Cuy in Cusco - Cusco, Peru Jan 13, 2008 (  39 ) (  2 ) |
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