On Sunday morning, we woke up and made our way to the Cusco airport. It was less scary flying out of Cusco than flying in – so that was a relief!
We made it back to Lima around lunchtime. Gate 1 had organized a bus to pick us up to immediately bring us on a tour of Lima. The tour included a tour of the colonial section, the main plaza, and the San Francisco convent and catacombs.
It was primarily a walking tour – it was fun to see the hustle and bustle on a Sunday. Lots of families come in to go shopping and spend time together – and enjoy their Black Friday weekend sales!
The most interesting part of the tour was the convent and catacombs, which we couldn’t take ANY pictures of. But holy smokes – it was incredible to see the catacombs.
The catacombs were started in the 1500’s and still is used for important peoples in the brotherhood’s burials. It was created to withstand seismic movement (Peru is in the ring of fire), which is amazing they had that understanding 800 years ago! There are estimated to be 25,000 bodies buried down there.
The brotherhood opened the catacombs to the public in 1950. In order to open them, they had to move some of the skeletons to create more of a path. They were displayed in interesting ways – usually the skulls or the femurs (the strongest bones in the body).
Here are a few pictures from Google – we all wanted to respect the fact that this was a burial ground.
These “well” type shapes in the catacombs helped prevent damage from earthquakesThis staircase leads back up to the church above
After the convent we made our way to the hotel. We got checked in and then headed to our farewell dinner. Some people had the whole next day to enjoy Lima, but unfortunately for myself and Andy we had a 1:00 AM flight. So we were on our way to the airport around 9:00 PM!
Picarones – reminds me of donuts!
The flight home was smooth – and we absolutely loved Peru. We have a pretty lengthy bucket list, but we can already tell that we need another Peru trip to check more items off of it!
Accommodations:
Jose Antonio – Miraflores Lima
Up Next: Australia/New Zealand cruise December 2023
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.
This was one of the tallest bouldersThis is meant to be a fist – the thumb would be on the other side. Personally, I thought it was a foot
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!
Some of the doorways were still intactStunning view of Cusco
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.
The altar
As we left this quick site – we saw a mini Christ the Redeemer, which was a fun nod to our trip last Christmas!
Just a *little* bit smaller than the one in Rio de Janeiro
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.
Would you try Guinea Pig?Andy outdid himself with this photo of the church
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!
The day after Machu Picchu was set out to be a more relaxing one. The day started with an optional walking tour of the town Aguas Calientes. As we started walking, it was raining – eventually coming to a stop entirely.
Aguas Calientes was a small town, but with the tourism industry picking up – it has grown into a more touristy town. (But still fun!) Our tour manager gave us an overview of what it’s like living in Peru and more history about the country itself.
Note the corn cob on the end of his staff – corn was very prominent in the Inca Empire
Once the walking tour wrapped up, we went to a nearby restaurant for a Pisco Sour demonstration. The Pisco Sour is the national drink in Peru – you see these everywhere on the menu! A Pisco Sour is a refreshing cocktail that typically includes Pisco (a white grape brandy), fresh lime juice, simple syrup, ice, and egg white. It’s shaken to perfection, creating a frothy and zesty drink.
We loved the cute glasses!
The bartender explained how to make the drink – and then asked for a few volunteers to bartend. Andy and I weren’t selected – but we were taking notes so we can make them at home!
Some people stayed at that restaurant for lunch, but I was really craving an empanada – so we started looking for another restaurant. Once we found one – we had a great view of the Main Street, which was fun to watch all the different people walk by.
When I had ordered my empanadas – I had asked how many came with the order. He said two – which was about what I was looking for. They are usually pretty small. Once he brought them out – we realized the mistake. They were huge!
The size of my head!
I couldn’t finish – and Andy wasn’t much help. Another group from Gate 1 was in the restaurant so they took the second one off of our hands. But I couldn’t even finish the first one that I had started. I was just explaining that I hadn’t seen any homeless people that I could share the leftovers with, when this small (probably 5 or 6 years old?) boy came up and asked if he could have it.
No, he wasn’t homeless. But he was not throwing away his shot! We said yes, and he scooped that up and walked away ecstatic with his prize. Then the restaurant’s cat jumped up into my lap for some love.
We took the train back to the original train station – it was less lively this way. But we had a better view of the river. It was relaxing after the previous day’s activities. After we made it back – we still had a two hour bus ride to Cusco.
Our tour manager had organized a stop at a pottery shop – everything was super reasonable there. It was a cool experience – and we learned more about the style of pottery there. We all purchased a couple of authentic souvenirs, and we were on our way again.
We made it back to Cusco and just had a late dinner at the hotel and much needed rest.
Scribbles and Snapshots 