We were relieved that we got to sleep in a bit on Saturday as we had been going nonstop since we got to Peru. We laid low that morning, and then started our morning by walking to a restaurant that one of my friends had recommended. Mel had visited Peru back in June, and she had given me a recap and recommendations. So we were doing our best to at least hit a few places she had told me about.

Like most of Peru, we felt quite safe and comfortable walking around their cities and towns by ourselves. Cusco was easy to navigate, shopping and dining was easy as almost everyone we interacted with spoke great English.

We got to Yaku right around the time they opened – and ordered their corn to share. I still can’t get over how big the kernels are!

I’m not an adventurous eater – mainly because in my day-to-day I am a borderline vegetarian (primarily eating chicken, turkey, and a little bit of fish). So I never really try new meats when we travel. However, Andy had wanted to try an Alpaca burger and I ordered their chicken plate.

The food was so delicious – we had a great meal and started making our way back to the hotel. We stopped in a few shops along the way – I had wanted to some baby Alpaca clothing and/or scarves. We found a few stores that actually had their own Black Friday sales – 50% off of everything! Had no idea that carried on outside of the United States – so that was fun.

We got back to the hotel in time for our tour of Cusco. Our first stop was the Saqsaywaman – (sounds like sexy woman ha!) which is a former temple fortress. It’s also one of the largest structures built by the Incas. The Incas were excellent stone masters – they took massive boulders to construct the walls.

Our tour guide had shared that the Incas did most things for their gods – including building temples for them. There are three animals that are prominent in Inca culture – the condor, the puma, and the snake. They each represent the different “world” in their culture: condor = upper, puma = outer, snake = inner.

What makes our Saqsaywaman area so incredible is that they constructed it for an aerial view… to look like a puma! You can see the jagged walls in our pictures – they are meant to be teeth! Unfortunately, because it wasn’t protected – Cusco had used the area for a quarry and some of it was deconstructed years ago. Regardless, they call it the Peruvian Stonehenge!

The view from the city was incredible – it really was a picture perfect vantage point over the city. From there, we went to another temple. This one was much smaller – Qenqo. This site you walked down into a lower area where you could see an altar. It’s believed that this was used as a ceremonial site – and likely where sacrifices took place.

As we left this quick site – we saw a mini Christ the Redeemer, which was a fun nod to our trip last Christmas!

Our last stop of the tour was at the Cusco Cathedral. It was beautiful, but unfortunately you couldn’t take any pictures inside. The Spanish built this church in 1559, and there was a lot of gold and finery lining these walls. Our favorite part was the painting of the Last Supper. A Peruvian artist was hired to paint this – he hadn’t seen it – and was going off their description. What was in the center of the table?

A guinea pig. Yep, you read that right! Guinea pigs are the main dish for celebrations in Peru. I’ll share a picture I found online so you can see what the painting looks like.

We had a few more recommendations from Mel on our list – so we stayed in the main plaza area. We checked out Paddy’s Irish Pub – which is the highest Irish owned pub on the planet at 11,156 feet. (Makes me wonder if there is a non-Irish owned pub that’s higher?!) After dinner, we got a cocktail from The Black Cat. It was certainly the best caipirinha I’ve had since leaving Brazil last year!

Accommodations: Xima Cusco Hotel

Up Next:

• Return flight to Lima
• Lima walking tour
• Farewell dinner