Cusco - CIty Tour

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Cusco

Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, is the gateway to the legendary Machu Picchu. The stone streets and building foundations were laid by the Incas more than 500 years ago, and were originally in the shape of a puma. The architecture of this city is amazing.

We arrived to Cusco at 5:00 a.m. hungry, tired and nowhere to go. We had emailed a hostel but they still had not responded, so we gave them a call and had them come pick us up from the bus terminal. One thing we have learned while traveling in country’s whose native language is not English is not to trust what their English translation of their websites says. 

For example: On the hostal in Cusco’s website it said “pick up at bus station provided by hostel”. So we assumed that the hostal provided the transportation from the bus station to the hostel, WRONG. If you called them and asked about the pick-up service first, they would act like they had no clue as to what you were talking about and second, they would finally organize a taxi for you and then make you pay once you arrived at the hostel. So we learned the word, “provided by hostel” does not mean that they provide you with anything it’s just a phrase they use to mean, “if you want something (like a ride) then you need to organize and pay for it yourself”. Thank you Cusco lessoned learned. 

Typical lunch $1.50 - some type of soup (usually just random stuff mixed together), chicken, rice, and a salad.

Great value for great price

Inca Cola, only in Cusco :)

So far on our trip we haven’t done too many organized tours; we have enjoyed meandering through towns at our own pace and making our own explorations. With Cusco it’s been a completely different story, we have LOVED tours! There is so much history and archeology in Cusco and we have found that the best way to learn about it all is on a professional tour. We have been blessed to have had two amazing tour guides whose knowledge and insights about this city have been worth every cent. The Incas civilization was seriously AMAZING, smart, and extremely intelligent. 

The first place we went to: Qorikancha (meaning “Place surrounded by gold”)

Qorikancha was Incan temples whose protective surrounding walls were covered in gold. The  Incans were a very religious and symbolic civilization. The stones in these temples were perfectly cut, they sat on top of each other. The Incas had a strong interest in astrology and a lot of what they did had ties to the stars. They had a room and door dedicated to astrologist who would predict the seasons and the amount of rainfall, whether it was going to be a good season or bad. They also had a huge bowl in the middle of the court yard that would be filled with chicha, a fermented beverage, which they would give to Sun God as an offering. 

Unfortunately, when the Spaniards came and took over Cusco more than 70% of Qorikancaha got destroyed. The Spaniards just knocked down and built on top what the Incas had built. In the temple they also found a huge golden wall with symbols of their God and the things pertaining to life. They don’t know what happened to the huge slate of gold (people speculate that the Spaniards melted the gold down) so they have a smaller replica on display, unfortunately it’s not gold. 

Everything in the temples had meanings. For example, the shape to every door and window was trapezoidal meaning eternity. Everything was symbolic.

This temple was once filled with gold, this is a small replica of a wall of gold the Incas created to represent the creation of the world

This is the court yard; behind us is a huge well shaped cup which they would fill with wine for the gods. The colonial pillars were built by the Spaniards. Honestly, such a shame how they destroyed this once huge beautiful temple.

You can see where the temple walls were torn down and the Spaniards built on, sad.

Next place we went to was saxywoman which sounds like sexy women but we were reminded multiple times that that is NOT how you should pronounce it lol. Saxywoman is one of Cuscos biggest archeological parks and is known for its massive rocks used in building this city. Seriously, check these things out. How on earth did they move these, build with them, and make this beautiful place? Mind boggling. 

The third place we visited was the fountain of youth; supposedly if you wash your face in the water you were blessed with looking youthful for the rest of your life. Not only did I wash my face I practically dunked my head in the water to absorb as much of that magical stuff as possible. Youthful face here I come :)