the belly button of the world

Dia Nine through Eleven
Cusco, the belly button of the world according to the Incans, is where we spent our last few days. Both Jimmy and I were surprised by the city as it was not what we expected Peru to be like. It was a beautiful city with many plazas, shops, restaurants, and native Incan architecture. The Spanish used the Incan stonework that was left after their conquest as the base for their cathedrals, convents, and other important buildings. All which make Cusco a fascinating city to wander around. The inside of the cathedrals is another story. I have never seen so much gold in my life and according to tour groups it is all 18-22 karat gold leaf. Gold covered almost every object on every wall in the entire 2 main cathedrals.

My favorite part of Cusco was the hillside wandering that we did on our last day. We hiked up to Sacsayhuaman, site of one of the largest battles between the Incans and the Spanish, but did not feel like paying the enterance fee, so we looked at the outer walls and marveled at the tourists who snapped pictures at every native Peruvian that they could see. Not sure how I feel about this, although most of the subjects had dressed up for the occasions, llamas in tow in hopes of getting money from the tourists. We continued through the foothills to the giant Jesus statue that lights up the Cusco night sky and onto other less seen ruins, before heading back down to Cusco.

Jimmy in his attempts to try new foods, dined on an alpaca fillet one night and LOVED it.

We also took time to plan the next portion of our trip during these days in Cusco. We are going to Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Arequipa on our next leg and then onto the Amazon.