South America and Mexico

Cusco Day 3 - Sacsayhuaman

ericayu — Sat, 5 Oct 2013 20:39:00 GMT

Today was pretty amazing! We woke up to pouring rain and our hopes of horseback riding were dashed momentarily. But with rain, comes many things that you don't usually get to witness so we suited up and went out. We were driven up to Sacsayhuaman National Park with our tour guide, Ernesto, and dropped off to walk to this ranch that had these horses bred especially to handle the rocky and sometimes narrow terrain of the Andes. My horse was Chocolate and he was fantastic. Always trying to nudge Eric's horse in the butt to hurry up or trying to push his way to the front. Our horseman was named Frank and I was more than impressed by his stamina. As we rode all the way up to almost 14,000 ft, he just kept running along with us, keeping the horses in line. I could hardly climb a set of stairs in the city without getting winded and here was Frank charging up 2000 ft of rocky terrain like we're at sea level.

We rode through the Andean hilltops, dismounted, and walked about a mile to our first stop, Puca Pucara, which means Red Fortress in Quechua. It is believed to have been an Incan fortress or military post as it sits on this hilltop right near the Inca Trail. You have a 360 degree view of anyone approaching across the entire valley. In addition, they have storage rooms for weapons and crops that are paid as taxes by incoming merchants.

Across the road and about a 10 minute walk away was Tambomachay which was believed to be some sort of royal bath. There was a three layer stone bath that flowed down level by level and at one point, thought to be a tomb. But since no mummies were ever found here, the royal bath notion seems a lot more plausible. It was a beautiful sight surrounded by lots of grazing sheep, llamas, and even a few pigs. With the rain, we were able to witness the Incan aqueducts in the work.

We took a collectivo part of the way back to the horses and stopped at a local weaving place. We were shown the traditional looms they used and some simple machinery. All the dyes used are completely natural. The base color is basically this parasite that lives on a specific kind of cactus they have and they are mixed with various leaves or plants to create a myriad of colors. On average, it takes them about 5 days to make a scarf as there are many steps until the end product.

We walked back to Frank and the horses and rode on to the Temple of the Moon. It consists of two small underground caves with a flat altar along the inner wall. During the full moon, the moonlight shines right through a hole in the roof onto the altar. Even today, many natives still come here with offerings or gifts. On the walls, there were carvings of snakes, pumas, and condors-the Incan trilogy representing the past, present, and future.

After more than 4 hours of riding, romping, and climbing around the hilltops, we returned to the ranch to return the horses and continued on foot to the biggest ruins in the area, Sacsayhuaman. The Spaniards refer to it as a military outpost because of its towering terrace walls overlooking the city and also because this is where the rebellion against them started. In reality, it is believed to have been built for ceremonial purposes. It is so vast that the main plaza can hold thousands and thousands of people. Today, every year there is an Incan festival on the day of the winter solstice where tens of thousands of Peruvians flock to Sacsayhuaman to celebrate.

We decided to walk back down to the Plaza de Armas and boy, that was hard. In our 15 min walk, we descended about 1000 ft. The steps were so steep and angled forward. With the addition of all the rain, they became super slippery rounded stones and I was slightly afraid for my tailbone. Ernesto was an excellent guide and totally worth paying extra for. Otherwise it would have been us and Frank who spoke no English, wandering around the hilltops.

6 hours of roaming at altitude will definitely work up your appetite. It is a bit hard to get food recommendations around here because I think everyone just assumes we want the nicer, touristy places no matter how much I say I don't want fancy. Since it was raining and chilly, I found this little restaurant that serves various soups, from Peruvian stews to Japanese Udon. Sadly, they weren't open yet when we went for our late lunch/early dinner. We kept walking towards the touristy Plaza to a restaurant that someone else had mentioned and then all of a sudden I spot the word pollo. Ever since we lived in San Diego and discovered Peruvian chicken, I have been looking forward to having it here. And I mean REALLY looking forward to it. Not the fancy schmancy chicken they serve you in those fancy schmancy tourist restaurants where it's smothered in fancy shcmancy sauce, but just some good herby roasted chicken with fries that puts rotissiere chicken to shame. We looked at the menu and it consists of 1/4, 1/2, or 1 pollo con papas fritas y ensalada. Literal moment where all my foodie dreams came true.

Leones Pardos Chicken is probably as hole in the wall as I can manage and it was AMAZING!! I'm pretty sure it was a little family run business because the waiter looked about 20 years old, his younger sister was in the back making the hot beverages, his mom was manning the cash box and roasting/frying chicken, his probably 6 year old brother would come around and wipe down the tables, and then there was this adorable 3 year old little girl toddling around the restaurant with her rubber duck.

He said 1/2 a chicken should be enough for both of us and comes back with two plates with a giant piece of chicken and fries galore. As we ate, I thought I had misspoke and we each got 1/2 a chicken but after a day like today, I didn't think about it twice. We watched soccer and then some dubbed Jackie Chan movie with the other locals there eating. The aji sauce was amazing. The various pickled vegetables were amazing. The chicken was amazing. In the end, I learned that what we received was actually only 1/4 chicken each. Holy cow, how big are their chickens? So for under $10, we both ate our fill of delicious Peruvian chicken amongst a bunch of locals without a waiter who demanded a tip such as those in the fancy schmancy touristy restaurants. That was probably the best meal I've had here. And we didn't have to splurge for anything ridiculous.

Perfect meal to end a perfect day.

Cusco Day 2

ericayu — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 23:25:00 GMT

After a restless night of sleep, I pulled myself up into the 40 degree weather to catch the end of breakfast. We went on Cusco's free walking tour such as what they have in many big cities. As we were waiting for others to arrive, I had my first entirely Spanish conversation, other than at the airports, with this grandpa sitting next to me on the bench. Such a surreal moment. 24 hours ago I was on a hot plane worrying if I can even remember enough to have a conversation and here I am now sitting in a beautiful park chatting away. It really does come back to you and I'm even more thankful that I had amazing Spanish teachers all these years.

Our tour guide called himself Johnny (Depp). Yesterday, our taxi driver was Billy. Both made a big deal about their names in American culture so I wonder if that's their real name or their for-the-tourists name. We started off by going to a local Peruvian restaurant where we sampled alpaca steak in a gooseberry sauce. I was surprised by how delicious and tender it was. The sweet sauce really complemented the savory meat. Next, we went to Paulina's, where we had our sandwiches last night, to try some Chicha Morada. It's a dark colored drink that's made of boiling a dark blue colored corn and mixing it with lemonade and something else. Johnny compared it's nutritional benefits to that of Gatorade but natural. It's supposed to help with headaches and hangovers but who knows how scientifically accurate that is so he drinks both after a night out.

We visited a few cathedrals, walked down some back streets with nearly nonexistent sidewalks but equally crazy drivers. We stopped at this wall called the Inka Roca? that was built by the Incans at the bottom and then built over by Spaniards. Part of the wall was destroyed because the Spanish thought the Incans had used gold rods inside the structure and they wanted that gold. Hope they weren't too disappointed when they found nothing. We started climbing extremely steep and slippery cobblestone steps that made me wonder why I ever complain in San Francisco. We were rewarded by an amazing aerial view of Cusco and some random bar stories from Johnny. After another heart pounding steep climb, we reach a cathedral sitting on the hillside near Sacsayhuaman, where a bunch of women were chilling with their pet llamas. Or alpacas. I'm not too sure how to tell the difference at this point.

Finally, we start our descent and stop at sushi and noodle bar. The tour's theme for this month is international foods so why not sushi? Their fish is brought fresh from the coast everyday and we were given samples of salmon and veggie rolls. It was so good I almost forgot I was in Peru. To end our 3 hour adventure, we went to a chocolate museum where you can make your own chocolates. Awesome. We tried their milk and dark chocolates along with some delicious chocolate tea. Sooo good. I've always been a bigger fan of international chocolates over what we have at home and this was delectable. During the whole tour, Johnny blasted what he called awesome songs dude! I think he meant crappy American pop songs. I didn't fly all this way to be reminded of Robin Thicke and Miley's obsession with wrecking balls and how she won't stop. But alas, I also heard it in the airports so I guess they either didnt watch their lovely duet or they loved it.

Had dinner at a restaurant called Don Tomas. I was greeted with another Miley rendition as we sat down. Seripusly, what is it with her? It was a bit expensive but so good that it didn't matter. We had our first cebiche dish of fresh trout. I had alpaca steak and Eric had pork loin wrapped in bacon with some sauce on it. It was an interesting surprise that our veggies had jicama in it but just because I wasn't expecting it.

Wander around the nightlife of Cusco and then made our way back because Eric HAD to watch the Dodger's game. I'll give him that we always seem to be off in another country every time they're doing well/in the playoffs. Tomorrow's going to be an adventurous day. Buenos noches todos.

Cusco

ericayu — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 18:50:00 GMT

After an extremely long 25 hours of multi connections flying and sleeping on airport floors, we finished our journey with a beautiful sunrise flight to Cusco. At this point, I was so tired I kept hitting my face on the plane window but managed some decent pictures. It was absolutely stunning to see the snow capped Andes right under us as we flew at 15,000 feet. While it was still dark, I could see little clusters of lights from very remote little villages/towns and it's amazing to think that they are able to survive so far from hugely populated civilization. Must be quite a tranquil place though. Oh yes, it was also awesome to see the Panama Canal from the air during sunset for our first layover. For some reason, since learning about it in 2nd grade or something, I have always aspired to see it. 15 years later, seeing that wide stretch of murky water still filled me with excitement and joy. Call me weird. Or maybe I was just tired.

Our journey was filled with a random assortment of side effects no thanks to the medicine we were taking to prevent altitude sickness. At one point or another, either my arm, leg, or feet were tingling similar to when your leg falls asleep and someone pokes it. But not as painful, thank goodness. For about 45 min, the right half of my top gums went painfully numb. Super wierd. Anyone ever experienced that?

We taxied to our hospedaje and they were super accommodating and allowed us to check into our room early and served us coca tea to further inhibit any ill feelings due to the altitude. We slept the day away and got up in time to do a little exploring before dinner. I am immediately confronted by my biggest pet peeve as a traveler as swarms of people approach with their goods. I always feel so rude brushing them off or just plain ignoring them but then I wouldn't be able to get anywhere. First impressions of Cusco:

- beautiful architecture and nice street music

- there's quite a lot of pizzerias here

- pedestrians do not have the right of way ever

- similar to China, drivers arent afraid to get onto the sidewalk. But, given that most sidewalks are literally a foot wide, you better hope and pray they don't decide to do that right behind you

Had a quick dinner of chicharron sandwiches and it's not even 7 pm here but back to bed I go. I'm excited to finally utilize all that Spanish have learned. Buenos noches todos.