When I look back on the month that I spent in Peru in May, I realize that between two trips to Lima, two trips to Machu Picchu and a great weekend at the beach in Mancora, I only spent about half of my time in Cusco. As a result, there are regrettably some things that I did not get to see, like the Inca Museum and the San Pedro Market. But, what I was able to discover during my time in Cusco I loved.
Walking the cobblestone streets and mile high staircases, you can imagine people hundreds of years ago walking the same paths. The streets are impossibly steep and narrow, barely allowing one car to squeeze through (yet somehow they are supposed to let traffic pass in both directions!). Walking around on my first day in the city, I remember being in awe of how picturesque it is.
This, and its proximity to Machu Picchu, make Cusco a very touristy city and it is definitely the South American city where we encountered the most English speakers. I had to learn to ignore all of the street vendors and men and women crowding the streets outside of their storefronts and restaurants offering “masajes” (massages) and inviting us to come try the daily special on their restaurant menu.
While Machu Picchu is the most famous, and certainly the most impressive, it is not the only place you can visit Incan ruins in Peru. On one afternoon, we hired a taxi driver to take us around to some Incan ruins in Cusco, including Sacsayhuaman (pronounced “sexy woman”), a huge complex overlooking the city; Tambomachay, which were believed to be Incan baths; and a few other sites whose names I can no longer remember. We also made a stop at Cristo Blanco, a large statue of Jesus Christ that can be seen from different vantage points throughout the city. I think that because I had gone to Machu Picchu the day before visiting these sites, I was a little underwhelmed in comparison.
Cusco is situated very close to the Sacred Valley, thought to be the heartland of the former Inca Empire. We spent one Saturday there in a town called Chinchero, visiting with a local community and learning a little bit about their way of life.
None of us knew what to expect, but as soon as we stepped off the bus, the women greeted us with singing and dancing, grabbing our hands to join in after presenting us with a necklace of flowers. We went into their compound and, following their lead, introduced ourselves by name, age and marital status (Maya, veinte-ocho (28), soltera (single)). We then had some hot tea, flavored with our choice of chamomile, coca leaves and another local herb. After fortifying ourselves, we walked to the fields where the villagers showed us how to build a traditional mud oven where we would roast the potatoes we were about to harvest. That afternoon we learned how the villagers give an offering of coca leaves to Pachamama (Mother Earth) before planting any crops. I also learned how hard it is to use a hoe to turn soil in preparation for planting crops and I declined trying my hand at leading the bulls in plowing a field.
After all this activity, we were ready for a traditional Andean Buffet, which largely consisted of potatoes and other starches in various forms, and the traditional delicacy of cuy (AKA guinea pig!), which is reserved for special occasions – I tried a tiny bite and it wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat too much.
Following lunch, we learned how the women make yarn from sheep’s wool, watching them wash and dye it with natural ingredients and then seeing how that yarn is turned into all manner of handicrafts from scarves to purses to camera straps (my souvenir of choice).
On another occasion, we returned to the Sacred Valley for a visit to the Sacred Valley Brew House where we had a beer tasting and tour of the brewery. In “the world’s so small” news, the founder of the brewery was born in Peru, but actually grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, where I’m from, and went to a rival high school! The brewery is pretty awesome and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Sacred Valley.
We also ate a lot of great food in Peru. If you’re ever in Cusco, be sure to visit KION, Chicha, La Bodega 138, Morena, Cicciolina, Jack’s Café, Juanito’s, La Sanguicheria 154, Green’s Organic, Papacho’s and Inka Grill, among others.
This past month in London I have not missed the feeling of being severely out of breath when I walk up the steps to my hotel in San Blas (one of the most picturesque areas in Cusco), but I do miss the views of the city that such a vantage point affords.
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When I left D.C. for Remote Year, people often asked me which city or country I was most looking forward to. My response was always that I didn’t have one in particular, but I was most looking forward to visiting South America, a continent that I had not yet visited. This made my itinerary seem a bit anticlimactic since I’ve spent time in Europe and visited all of the cities on our Southeast Asian leg of the trip on my post-Bar exam trip. While I am looking forward immensely to the next eight months (seven, since it took me nearly a month to finish this post), I was sad to leave South America behind. Montevideo, Buenos Aires, La Paz and Cusco were each special in their own way. Spending time in South America allowed me the opportunity to regain a lot of the Spanish that I lost since studying abroad in Spain during college, and connect with wonderful cultures and people that I previously knew little about!
