Day 233
Now, the last few weeks have been very eventful. I am glad I finally come around finishing another blog post. Lets start:
Our 10 hours overnight bus from Arequipa arrived at the 3500m high Andean city of Cusco. Little did we know that we would be hanging out at this marvelous place for quite some time. But first things first:
Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and it is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru.
We took a cab up to the old traditional San Blas district and checked into our hostel called Hospedaje Kuntur Wasi. High on the hillside we overlooked a major part of the surrounding city. The vista was lovely, having to run up and down the numerous stairs that lead to the city centre was not so great.
We checked out our immediate neighbourhood and enjoyed walking around the San Blas square. Pretty much everything in the historic centre can be reached by walking tiny roads. In most of them one has to share with cars and other motorised vehicles — challenging at some stages. Our way lead down to Plaza de Armas which exhibits a fancy fountain, giant basilica cathedral and church and other colonial buildings characterized by covered walkways.
The remainder of the day we went on a city tour which covered a few very important Inca sites in and around Cusco.
We began our sightseeing spree at the Temple of the Sun, the most important temple in the Inca Empire whose walls and floors were once covered in sheets of solid gold.
Then a bus took us out of the city to a place named Sacsayhuaman (speak: “sexy woman”), a walled complex on the northern outskirts. The complex is as many other Inca constructions made of large polished dry-stone walls, each boulder carefully cut to fit together tightly without mortar. Very impressive I have to say.
Next: More ruins! We wandered around the religious site at Qenqo and finally took the bus to Tambomachay, an ancient bath complex consisting of a series of aqueducts, canals and waterfalls that run through the terraced rocks.
Our last stop was at Pucapucara, a military fort high on atop the nearby hills.
From then on we merely stopped at a handicraft factory and headed back downtown to call it a day. Frankly I did not expect our first day being that busy. But I was just realising how much there was to see.
Paddy’s Pub was were we went for dinner. It claims to be the highest Irish Pub in the world… Well, I don’t care. They do have great food though. A pint of Guinness (out of a can) was very expensive (compared to local beer) but with 14 Soles (about 4 Euro) still cheaper than in most places in Dublin. 
The Inca Empire: Exploring Cusco, Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo and Tambomachay
Day 233
Now, the last few weeks have been very eventful. I am glad I finally come around finishing another blog post. Lets start:
Our 10 hours overnight bus from Arequipa arrived at the 3500m high Andean city of Cusco. Little did we know that we would be hanging out at this marvelous place for quite some time. But first things first:
Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and it is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru.
We took a cab up to the old traditional San Blas district and checked into our hostel called Hospedaje Kuntur Wasi. High on the hillside we overlooked a major part of the surrounding city. The vista was lovely, having to run up and down the numerous stairs that lead to the city centre was not so great.
We checked out our immediate neighbourhood and enjoyed walking around the San Blas square. Pretty much everything in the historic centre can be reached by walking tiny roads. In most of them one has to share with cars and other motorised vehicles — challenging at some stages. Our way lead down to Plaza de Armas which exhibits a fancy fountain, giant basilica cathedral and church and other colonial buildings characterized by covered walkways.
The remainder of the day we went on a city tour which covered a few very important Inca sites in and around Cusco.
We began our sightseeing spree at the Temple of the Sun, the most important temple in the Inca Empire whose walls and floors were once covered in sheets of solid gold.
Then a bus took us out of the city to a place named Sacsayhuaman (speak: “sexy woman”), a walled complex on the northern outskirts. The complex is as many other Inca constructions made of large polished dry-stone walls, each boulder carefully cut to fit together tightly without mortar. Very impressive I have to say.
Next: More ruins! We wandered around the religious site at Qenqo and finally took the bus to Tambomachay, an ancient bath complex consisting of a series of aqueducts, canals and waterfalls that run through the terraced rocks.
Our last stop was at Pucapucara, a military fort high on atop the nearby hills.
From then on we merely stopped at a handicraft factory and headed back downtown to call it a day. Frankly I did not expect our first day being that busy. But I was just realising how much there was to see.
Paddy’s Pub was were we went for dinner. It claims to be the highest Irish Pub in the world… Well, I don’t care. They do have great food though. A pint of Guinness (out of a can) was very expensive (compared to local beer) but with 14 Soles (about 4 Euro) still cheaper than in most places in Dublin.