Sight Seeing in Cusco

We arrived in Cusco in the evening, after spending the day hiking Huayna Picchu. First, we checked in at the Belmond Monasterio Hotel, then we headed out to do some shopping and get dinner at Uchu Steakhouse.

The food and the service were both very good. The portions are generously sized and the atmosphere is relaxing and serene. It’s a nice contrast to the hustle going on in the streets outside.

One thing we learned very quickly, people drive really fast and the sidewalks are very narrow. We also learned that there are packs of dogs that roam the streets. They keep to themselves and don’t bother anyone. Being dog lovers, it made us sad to learn that it is a rather large problem, with people buying dogs and when they can no longer afford them, kicking them out. We saw several dog shelters but there are many more dogs than there is space to care for them.

We started our tour of the historic district after breakfast the following morning. The Plaza de Armas was once the great Incan square, it is still a central location used for festivals and events. It is a large park surrounded by two historic churches, shops and restaurants.

I was really impressed with the carved woodworking on all of the balconies of the shops and restaurants.

Our guide, Luis (from Kuoda travel), was incredibly knowledgeable about Peru’s history, filling us in on the significance of the buildings around Cusco. Once the Spanish had defeated the Incan Empire they started the process of replacing the religion, traditions and culture of the Incans. The Church of the Society of Jesus was purposefully built on top of the grounds of the demolished Amarucancha, palace of the Sapa Inka Huayna Capac. We did not tour this church, just admired the architecture outside. The church is beautiful and would be worth visiting if you have enough time.

We did take a tour of the Santo Domingo Monastery. This is the site of the original Qoricancha, Temple of the Sun, the most sacred of the Incan sites. The original temple was covered in 14 karat gold, which was pilfered by the Spanish conquistadors. The majority of the temple was destroyed and the Spaniards built this over the temple.

Inside the new temple, there are some sections of the original Qoricancha, which have been preserved. 

The church and monastery are backed up to a lovely open green space, where families gather for picnics and outdoor games.

Being with a tour guide enabled us to take short cuts to get to our destinations. 

Our guide brought us to the San Blas neighborhood for lunch, to a place that specialized in Guinea pig. They had a cute picture of a Guinea Pig on the menu, which really made the idea of eating one even less appealing to me. We all took a pass on that eating adventure. 

We were on our own for the rest of the afternoon. Our guide left us with directions for getting to the market. While we were trying to find it, we had to go through a long alleyway. It was the only time where we all hesitated and discussed if we were about to make a bad choice. My brother-in-law went down first to see what was at the end of the alley. The market was at the other end, so we hurried through. We did take the main roads to get back to the Plaza when we were done. I had higher expectations for the San Blas neighborhood. After briefly visiting it, we all felt that our time would have been better spent remaining in the central area of Cusco.

After doing some shopping and hunting down the post office (my brother-in-law collects stamps), we headed back to the Plaza de Armas to tour the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kiswarkancha, a temple and palace of the Incan Ruler Viracocha, was previously located on this site. The Spanish colonizers tore down the building and built this church in 1560-1654 in its place. It has three churches within the single building and houses an immense amount of Cusco’s Colonial art. While the interior architecture and artwork are impressive, we were all kind of weirded out by all of the Papier Mache like sculptures. They reminded me of Lady Fairchild (the puppet from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood), who always creeped me out as a child. 

After our self tour of the church, we headed back to our hotel. It had been a pretty full day, and our feet and legs were sore from the hiking and walking we had done the two days prior at Machu Picchu. We later went out for dinner and did some more shopping before returning to the hotel to pack for our final day in Peru, which was to be spent in Lima.

Although the Amazon Rainforest and Machu Picchu were the reason for our trip to Peru, I am glad we spent time touring Cusco. Our final day in Peru was spent in the Barranco District in Lima. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

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