Cuzco/ Cusco

We spent almost two full days in Cuzco and it was plenty for us. We arrived at night, took us ages to find a place to stay that wasn't either way too expensive or so nasty that we couldn't imagine falling asleep let alone laying in the beds!

The next morning we started out by going to the Chocolate Museum that I'd read about. We got a lot more than we bargained for! It was a free museum and upon entering we were greeted by a friendly chocolate lover who explained the process from bean to bar. We were interested to find out that cocoa beans don't grow off the limbs of the tree but actually off the main trunk itself. We crushed a cocoa bean in our hand ( I was the first to do it and everyone else seemed to have some trouble, not to toot my own horn or anything) and we tasted the cocoa nibs inside which is what they use to make chocolate, they were bitter and to me had a slight semblance of a kalamata olive. We saw all the ingredients that go in and how they work together. They had us try chocolate made in different parts of Peru and we were surprised at how noticeably different the taste can be just varying on where they're grown.

We sat at their cafe and had some wonderful hot chocolate and a brownie. It was so good Tyler licked the plate clean :p We got some other things too but for the sake of surprise to some of those who read this blog, we'll keep that part a secret.

When we left we visited the Plaza De Armas, or the main square. I  had a long conversation with a man named Fredy selling painting and eventually bought one from him. The architecture in the Plaza is beautiful and we spent some time admiring them.

A little later we walked to the main market where Tyler got a sweater that he looks great in! And we got some of the best dried mango I've ever eaten and corn on the cob, each kernel was at least double the size of our corn at home. The market was crazy busy and very large with people in every direction trying to get you to buy from them. The first section was dedicated to clothing stalls mostly and some trinkets, then came juice and produce, meat, bread, then a section of restaurants and one aisle of  "innards" (we skipped that one). In the bread section we got what looked like a Peruvian pop tart. It tasted sweet, like a sugar cookie with sprinkles.

pop tart!

Many of the restaurant stalls seemed to serve the same things so we chose one with a lady who wasn't yelling at us to sit down. I quickly learned that palta is avocado in Spanish. The avocado here is so good I look for it everywhere! So I had arroz con huevo y palta. rice with egg and avocado, the woman added cucumber, red onion and tomatoes as well, it came with fries also. It was delicious! And very filling. Tyler had similar but his had onion and small pieces of meat. Our meal costs 5.50 soles which is less than $2. We left very satisfied both in our wallets and our bellies.

mine.

His.

The Information desk told us to get on the CorreCaminos bus to the station so we could buy our tickets for the next day to Puerto Maldonado. We got on the already packed bus and at every stop it seemed another one or two people hopped on. I was standing and couldn't hold on anywhere but I couldn't have fallen over either. We got our tickets and decided to walk back to the center.

The highlight of the next day was definitely the Sacsayhuaman ruins. We walked up a large hill to get to them, realized we didn't have enough soles, walked back down to an ATM and came back up again. The ruins were very interesting, it looked like a castle. The massive stones were cut so perfectly and fit with each other just right that it looked like a massive puzzle. There were even stones that they rounded in for corners which were fascinating as well. These ruins were built overlooking what is now the huge, populated city of Cuzco, I can't imagine looking down and seeing only grass and trees.

overlooking Cuzco

fascinating!

We continued to wander, we even went through some underground tunnels they'd created (using the flash on our cameras for light). I spent the day in wonder thinking about the process of building such a fortress.

Later, we ate at a different stall in the market but the same food, we sat on a park bench near our hostel and watched a storm come from the distant hills until it brought its gusts of wind and rain to our bench and we went inside to get all our stuff together and we walked to the bus station. We were ready for the rainforest after all that busy city!

Here comes the storm!