Saturday, February 8, 2014

Cuzco & Machu Picchu

Cuzco was both the my best and worst time in Peru.  Everything was amazing, except for when I was sick.  The first day, altitude sickness really hit me and I couldn't enjoy much of anything.  That being said, we saw some pretty awesome ruins that first day.  The city of Cuzco itself is beautiful.  I like it a lot more than Lima.  It's still a big city, but it has more of a small town feel.  The history of the city is so interesting too.  Cuzco was the capital of the Incan empire.  Some of the modern buildings were built using some of the old Incan stone walls as a foundation.  I struggle-bused through that day and went to bed at like 7pm.

Day 2 was Machu Picchu!  It was so beautiful.  Photos don't do it justice.  The entire landscape, with the mountains all around, the mist, and the ancient buildings...amazing!  The history of the city was really interesting as well.  It was much smaller than I thought it would be population-wise, only about 400-500 people.  Machu Picchu was one of the only cities not to be discovered by the Spanish in their conquest of the Incan empire.  We ate lunch at a restaurant at the entrance to Machu Picchu.  Some natives played live music there.  It was nice to relax a bit there and head back down to the city to do some souvenir shopping.

Day 3 was the Sacred Valley.  By this time, I was pretty exhausted.  Almost a full week of traveling and days full of activities.  The Sacred Valley was pretty cool.  We saw some more ruins and ended our trip with a visit to where they make clothes and other goods out of sheep and alpaca wool.  I bought myself an alpaca sweater for just 40 soles (~$15).  Best money I ever spent.  I also got to take a picture with this guy that was dressed as Manco Capac, the founder of Cuzco City.

We travelled back to Lima on day 4.  I am really glad to be back in Lima and have some time to relax and not be hiking through some jungle or climbing a mountain.  But this week in the Amazon and Cuzco was probably the best week of my life.


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