Cusco Scenes

WonderPeru got us to Cusco in the afternoon of the 7th--a great bus ride--and we checked into the Tierra Vita Centro, our home for the next week. Perhaps the best of our hotel stays, only a 3 star, but luxurious enough for us and with a wonderful breakfast and really nice and helpful staff. Our first evening I simply walked to the nearest IncaFarma to buy some more Diamox...of the 250mg variety. Our 125mg dosage seemed insufficient. Happily, such things are OTC in Peru, and the double dosage seemed eventually to work. Next day we were content simply to wander the centro, the cathedral complex, and to connect with Llama Path, our guides for Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail, and the Sacred Valley.

Old Inca gateway to Cusco, their capital

Pre-Inca ruins on the outskirts of the city

Another big city, half a million, I'd guess

Rebar in the sky...

Bolivar and San Martin welcome us to Cusco

Actually larger than king-size; five blocks from the Plaza de
Armas; best breakfasts of our trip

Pinata shop

Approaching the Plaza de Armas and the cathedral

Interestingly adorned fire truck; just back from the Parade of
Roses? we wondered

Interestingly, this is the pose most younger tourists seem to
favor for their pix; Crucificado?

On the Plaza, tastefully understated

Plaza

Conqueror and conquered

Another day, another parade; silly men this time

No fotos in the cathedral, but we had to get this one

And this one, off the web: the muy muy famoso guinea pig
Last Supper at the cathedral in Cusco

The cathedral; actually a three-fer with adjoining churches on
the starboard and port; apart from the Last Supper, we could
have well skipped it

Mostly what there is to look at in Cusco are the architectural
traces of the Incas, marveling at their very fine stone masonry,
grandeur, etc.

The longest of the intact walls

Archaeological sites all around; although the Spanish/Catholics
destroyed pretty much everything they could of Incan
civilization

Amuse bouche at Boca, a nice restaurant recommended by one
of Rachel's friends

Actually, a salad and this mixed grill appetizer was all we
could eat (altitude of Cusco is just over 11,000 and we were
feeling it; that and the huge breakfast)

It was International Women's Day and there was a march on the
Plaza