It was an early morning which as we all know is not Emily’s favorite time of day. But she rose like a champ and we set out for the airport at 6am. My amazing Spanish helped us navigate the chaotic airport(though I’m sure Emily’s good looks and patient,” just tell him in English” helped too). We landed in Cusco at more than 10,000 ft elevation and can feel it when going up stairs and hills.
The weather is perfect, sunny and warm but not overly so. Again, we had an easy reception with a sign and a warm greeting as they took us directly to our 4 star hotel. I am bragging a bit about the hotels only because up until this point in our lives we were hostel bound. But this chic hotel looks like a beautiful hotel with open center, fireplace, and lounge chairs. The rooms are lavish with personal notes, fruits, and other boutique amenities.
It was hard to leave the room. But with growling bellies we sought a Peruvian solutions and found a perfectly delicious one at the Inka Grill where we were treated as kings and queens to a montage of eclectic Peruvian specialties. I usually can describe the food better but I’m not quite sure what we ate, only that it was spectacular and we left contented.
We met up with another couple at our hotel who were going on the same tour as us. I never caught their names so I’m going to just call them Jim and Karen because, well, they looked like a Jim and Karen. Anyways, these two hailed from North Carolina and were on a month long trip up the west coast of South American. They were pleasant and we continued our Cusco city tour learning about the turbulent history of the Spaniards desolating the Incas and building churches over their most sacred temples. However after a series of massive earthquakes the Incan foundations were revealed and this the incredible appreciation for a architectural marvel was born. The Incans would build LEGO-style and everything was set at angles. The distance between each laid stone was millimeters.
After learning about the Incans we next toured the largest basilica in South America. This place could only exist in the imaginations of fantasy writers. A great hall supported by massive columns sheltering solid gold and silver places of worship so intricate that one had trouble taking them in. This magical basilica feels ripped from the pages of J. R. R. Tolkien or George Martin.
Our guides were very knowledgeable but we were lacking energy until we were advised to perchase coca hard candies. These little adrenaline packed sweets perked us right up. With hearts pumping we continued our tour through 8 Incan sites and reached an altitude of 13,000 Ft. One of the incan sites represented a large uterine for the rebirth of those who died to be born into a higher level. Needless to say Emily got her OBGYN on and we took gobs of pictures. At one point Emily asked me if I was excited to try coy (guiñe pig) tonight. I cheekily replied, “I’m coy-uiet excited”. Finally exhausted we returned to our hotel which was sporting a magnificent happy hour and two excitable musicians playing around a fire in the central court yard. Perfect pause to and otherwise adventurous day. Rough evening so we crashed. Guiñe pig for another day!
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