Cusco, Peru ~ Tuesday, July 8, 2014

We got up at about 5:00 A.M. this morning and got ready to leave for our flight to Cusco. The hotel served a minimal continental breakfast. Our group of eight got on the bus to the airport at 6:30. Check-in was easy. I learned that Lima is the only international airport in Peru.

The hour flight to Cusco was smooth. Freddy, our Peruvian guide, met us and took us to the Eco Inn. Overseas Adventure Travel likes to patronize locally owned hotels. This hotel is lovely, and it is much nicer than our hotel in Lima. We drank coca tea for altitude acclimation which works for me. Then we went up in a glass elevator to our room on the fourth floor with a view of the courtyard. Freddy had told us to lie down for about fifteen minutes and breathe deeply to help get adjusted to the altitude. The elevation here is 11,500 feet.

It was time for lunch, so we walked to a nearby restaurant and had a typical Peruvian meal which was easily forgettable. We then took a walking tour of the city. Freddy was full of information. We learned about historical events as well as the best places to purchase alpaca sweaters, pottery, and silver jewelry.

We went on a tour of Santo Domingo Church and Convent. He explained how the construction of the interlocking blocks of Inca architecture was earthquake proof. The Spanish had trained the Incas how to paint religious paintings since it wouldn’t be feasible to ship so many paintings from Spain. The Incas were tired of the way they were being forced to convert to the Spanish ways so they sneakily painted their own symbolism into the pictures! We couldn’t take pictures of the paintings because of their possibly being reproduced and sold in the black market.
http://www.cusco-peru.org/cultural-cusco-churches-cusco-santo-domingo-convent-church.shtml

Freddy took us into the town square, then he called a bus that transported us to a small jewelry making factory and shop. I had bought jewelry here in 2008, and I bought more today. Two were gifts and one was for me 🙂 We also watched the slow process that was involved when creating each piece of jewelry out of the highest quality of silver.

We ate dinner at our leisure at the hotel. Toward the end of our meal, we were entertained by musicians playing Peruvian panpipes, shakers, and flute music. We bought a CD from them as we left.

National flower of Peru