Peru Tour - 1 - Cusco

25 Dec 2005 - Cusco

Our guide, Jorge, picked up us at Lima international airport and took us to the domestic, which is next to the international airport.  We had to rush as there were only 20 mins for departure! We got a little Christmas gift as we boarded the plane – sweet. It was a comfortable flight even though it as only a 55 min flight. We got a little snack to eat. We started to see the Andes range – very pretty with all the snow capped mountains.

We reached Cusco on time and Carlos, another guide, picked us up. He gave us some instructions about the high altitude (~11,000 ft.) and took us to our hotel, El Andereigo. We got tea as we got into the hotel – sweet! Carlos told us our program for the next few days.  Sounds good since all I can think of is going to sleep! The hotel is very nice, very comfortable room and so quiet. (Maybe a little too quiet!) I took a shower and went to sleep. It is quite cold here.

Got up around 1 pm, ate some puris and walked the short 4 block walk to Plaza de Armas. It started raining as we were walking out. The streets of Cusco remind me of streets of India. They are all cobblestone, little dirty and narrow. Houses and businesses are mixed. A number of shops are closed today because of Christmas day. 

But as soon as we reached the Plaza, there were many people there. It seemed like everyone was out. There were a number of Americans and a lot of foreigners. We walked around – took pictures. The plaza is very picturesque with flowers all around and a fountain in the middle.

Plaza de Armas

We came back to the hotel by 3 pm, rested again for a while (not to forget, we have to get used to the altitude). Went out again at 5 pm. Our hotel owners were having their Christmas dinner right there at the hotel and they offered us their home made Tiramisu – oh wow! Amazing taste! And so nice of them to share. We went out to the Plaza San Francisco. It was very crowded. There was some sort of meeting going on – must have been a college thing as all the people were young.

Plaza San Francisco

We then walked to Plaza de Armas about 3-4 blocks away. We found a restaurant Tunupa there where they have live music and dance. So we came back to our hotel, had our dinner and went back to the hotel to have desert and enjoy the dance show. Very nice show. The dresses were colorful and dance had stories in it. We stayed for about an hour. Oh – the desert were not that great. No chocolate!

Plaza de Armas

Came back and promptly went to sleep.