Cuzco is the ancient Inca capital, a surprisingly large city built at 11,000 feet. You fly there directly from Lima, and the flight takes only about 1/2 hour. So, in 1/2 hour, you gain 11,000 feet in altitude, and you can definitely feel it. I personally, did not feel well at all for two days. I just wanted to sleep at all times.

Its definitely a cool city, though there are many tourists. But the square rivals anything in Europe, and its great to just sit in a balcony restaurant overlooking it, and watch the many many people, both tourists and locals walk through. We spent our time mainly walking around the town, through the narrow alley ways, and cobblestone streets. Many of the walls of the city were the original walls built by the Incas 500 years previous. These walls are really incredible, as the stone is cut perfectly to fit with the other stones, and we're not talking just square and rectangular stones. Evidently, they had an earthquake about 100 years ago, and all the Spanish colonial architecture came down, but all the Inca walls remained intact. Its too bad that most of it was destroyed when Pizarro and his entourage invaded Peru in the 1500s.

We did a lot of shopping, and watching of the cute kids running everywhere. Cuzco is definitely a town where you could spend many days either being very active, or doing nothing, and still enjoy yourself. Niyati and I actually considered coming back and staying for a few months and taking Spanish lessons, but these pie in the sky ideas rarely come to fruition.

Niyati and I had an extra day in Cuzco when we returned from Manu, and we used it to go exploring the non-touristed parts. We went to the large vegetable markets, and business districts where there were absolutely no tourists around, which was equally if not more fascinating than the touristy parts. I like all the women's hats. All the women seem to be of the exact same age, 50, though they all seem to have children. They are all of the exact same size and shape as well. All the children are 3 or 4 years old, or maybe thats just what you see 'cause the rest are in school.

Back to Peru

Home  Recent Events  Vacations  Our Friends' Sites   Miscellaneous  About Us

This site best viewed in 1024x768 resolution