Cusco (Night #1)

We arrived in Cusco after a long and grueling day in the airport. I am so glad Shannon decided to join me for this leg of the trip…her arm was bothering her and was contemplating going home. But, with some elevation and ice and ibprofin…she was determined to make it work! The flight was beautiful – I lost my pictures from the air – but the Andes Mountains were incredible. I could see ice capped peaks in the distance and the green fields were a welcomed sight after all the brown and dust in Ayacucho. Upon arriving, we wandered the streets for awhile – taking in the sights. The Plaza de Armas was incredible and there were quite a few street vendors around with more trinkets to purchase.

Cusco was the imperial capital of the Americas at the start of the Spanish conquest. It used to be filled with temples, elaboate plazas, palaces and a hilltop fortress. It was like Rome, highways fanned out to create an empire that stretched from Chile to Columbia. Cusco became the holy grail of the Spanish conquest when founded in 1533. The city was literally covered in gold and Pizarro wanted it all. As mentioned before, the Wari in Ayacucho were defeated by the Chancas and then overtaken by the Incas. After the battle, the Inca ruler changed his name to ´Pachacutec´or the shaker of the earth. He was responsible for all the building of Cusco (shaped in the form of a Puma), the plaza and all the other major cities along the ´Sacred Valley´, including Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu. His two sons created a civil war after his death, which allowed the Spanish to infiltrate and take over quickly – stealing all the gold from the cities, destroying all the temples and palaces, only leaving the foundations and cobblestone alleys. There is quite a history here…and similar to my experience when visiting Granada, Spain…the Spainards seem to have been so ruthless and only cared about gold and riches when taking over other civilizations (like the Muslims).

After viewing the sites, we met Beth and Hayden (who also went to Cusco after Ayacucho) for a delicious dinner at a resturant called Chicholina – we lived it up and ordered things like gnocchi and osobuco and an amazing white chocolate mousse dessert just because we could. We were finally so exhausted that we had to call it a night (after visiting the Monestary where Beth was staying…amazing). Tomorrow….we take the PeruRail train to Machu Picchu and I am beyond excited!!

Flight to Cusco

plaza de armas

plaza de armas

Advertisement