Cusco

After our time in Cajamarca and at site, Dad and I headed south to the mecca of all Peruvian tourist destinations: Cusco. We spent a wonderful few days there on either side of our Inca Trail/Machu Picchu excursion, exploring some of the many sites and walking the narrow cobbled streets. 

Plaza de armas

My impressions of Cusco can be summed up into a few key observations:

1. There is SO much to see and do! I think a solid two weeks would give you time to fully experience Cusco and the nearby Sacred Valley, but two-ish days didn't quite cover it. The city (and surrounding region) has Incan ruins galore, churches on every other corner, and museums and tours to better highlight the history. It's hard not to be overwhelmed, but it was great to have no lack of places to visit.
2. The city is, at every turn, a visible remnant of the Incas, the Spanish colonizers, and often both intermixed. Cobblestone streets, colonial-era wood-carved balconies, perfectly constructed stone walls, Inca temples converted into Jesuit monasteries - all of Cusco is a living history, and it's fascinating to uncover. 
3. Such. delicious. food. While this probably needs no explanation, I'm still having dreams about all the amazing meals I ate in Cusco's restaurants. Real pancakes with maple syrup; spinach and goat cheese ravioli; seafood risotto; grilled vegetables with sea salt; quality wine and beer... the list goes on. It was a little slice of foodie heaven, right here in Peru. Plus we tried alpaca steak - check that off the Peruvian foods list!
4. Tourists galore! And infrastructure that does pretty well at hosting them - impressive proof of where Peru's development could lead, if the rest of the country can catch up to Cusco's level. It was interesting to compare the small towns around Cusco to Cajabamba (the general scenery is the same), but to see clear benefits that tourism dollars have brought to the former (e.g., grass soccer fields). The sheer amount of tourists made some sites feel like Disneyland at times (queues, crowds, and amusing outfits), but mostly I just enjoyed watching the foreigners react to aspects of Peru that have grown to seem normal to me.

And now for some pictures from our Cusco days:

Narrow cobblestone streets

Cusco was laid out in the shape of a puma; the nearby ruins of Saqsaywaman form the teeth

Up close and personal at a llama/alpaca/vicuña farm

Incan farming terraces at Pisac, with the ruins of the town/fortress above

Impeccable stonework and the signature Incan trapezoid style at Ollantaytambo

Chinchero: another Incan wall of trapezoids, with the bell tower the Spaniards built on top

The temple of Qoricancha, later converted to a Jesuit monastery - you can see where the Spaniards tried to insert an arch

Wool spinning-dying-weaving demonstration

All natural colors

Traditional style of weaving

Yummm organic roasted veggie sandwich with amber ale

Dad trying pisco sour (the national drink)