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Nov 14, 2008 - Cusco, Peru and Surroundings
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A 120 ton rock! Painting in downtown Cusco Lots of llamas 
We left Arequipa heading to Cusco by overnight bus. This bus line is "the best of Peru". We ended up with seats on the top row of the double decker, which meant we felt every turn in the mountains all night! We arrived in Cusco early (5:00 AM) on Saturday, 11/8. While in Arequipa, we both had altitude sickness, not really bad, but headaches & nausea. Arequipa's altitude is 2,350 meters (7,732'), and Cusco is 3,326 meters (10,943'). We had adjusted in Arequipa, but Cusco was another story! We both got off the bus feeling not too great. The hotel told us the best thing for altitude sickness was sleep, so we crawled into bed. After a good nap & coca tea, we were ready to head out for a city tour.

There are lots of Inca ruins in this area of Peru. Machu Picchu (MP) is the most famous and biggest, but there are many more sites to see. While on our city tour, we visited Saqsaywaman, which is the site of what is believed to be a royal palace. MP was originally thought to be a site of royalty, but looking at the basic construction, Saqsaywaman has bigger stones put together with greater detail. They are all fascinating to see!

The city of Cusco itself is interesting. We saw the Temple of the Sun which had been partially destroyed, but parts had been preserved. In the photos you will find a beautiful wall painting that was on a major street in downtown Cusco. Also notice the small streets! We were really glad we had taken the bus to Cusco and had given our blue Hilux a few days rest. Driving here would have been difficult - to say the least!

We again tried some of the local foods. We can now advise you on some things to eat, and others to just say "no thank you". One of the local foods is alpaca which is a type of llama. We had it thinnly sliced & served as an appetizer. It was delicious. But the food that is most typical is cuy (guinea pig). No, it doesn't taste like chicken, and yes, just say "no thank you". It was amazing how bad it was considering how popular it is.


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