On Wednesday, September 14, we spent the day in Cusco, a 90 minute ride from our B&B in Urubamba. Cusco was once the capital of the Inca empire, and is Peru’s seventh largest city. We stopped for some pictures of the scenery and met a friendly alpaca. A nice way to start the day.
We spent most of our day in Cusco around the Plaza de Armas, a beautiful square in the city’s center. Cusco has a mix of architectures, ranging from original Inca walls to Spanish-influenced cathedrals. The cathedral Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús began construction in 1576. Similar to old cities in Europe, street vendors wander to hawk their wares, most commonly cloth items made from alpaca wool and art work.
Just a block from the town square was Casa Concha Museum, which includes many items initially discovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. The Inca mummies were quite interesting. The museum had hundreds of artifacts like cutting tools, weapons and pottery from the Inca civilization.
We had a great meal mid-day, and Deb actually tried the cuy (guinea pig). Our whole group gave it a try (except for me), and all agreed that it tasted like chicken, although there didn’t appear to be much meat.
