Travels in Peru: Cusco and the Sacred Valley

After a short flight from Lima, high up in the mountains, we arrived in Cusco, at an elevation of 11,000 feet. The flight was over so many mountains, I rarely take a picture from an airplane window, but I had the window seat on the flight and couldn’t help but be in awe at all the mountains (and took some pics). Jessica goes into further detail on our plan for the altitude, meals(for the foodies out there) and a whole lot more in her Cusco posts: part 1 and part 2.

We arrived and were shuttled to the Monasterio hotel, which, is housed in a former monastery (as the name implies). Jessica and I were ushered to the courtyard as they put our bags in the room, and we wound up talking for a bit to a couple from England, who were just hanging out in the courtyard, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.

After freshening up in the room, we were off to our tour of Cusco with our tour guide, Arturo, who would accompany us all the way to Macchu Picchu. He was to be an excellent guide and made us feel very comfortable and we felt really lucky to have him as our guide. The hotel was only a few minutes from the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square, and on that was the Cathedral and another monastery, among tourist shops and restaurants, all surrounding a fountain with a statue of Pachacuti, the most famous Incan leader.

The Cathedral had similarities with European Catholic Churches (of which we have seen many) but also some stark differences, in terms of the interior of the churches. Jesus being portrayed on the cross clothed in a colorful skirt was unexpected, as was some of the art work(see the third picture). The ornate altar was not uncommon, and I appreciated the Annunciation featured front and center.

Above the city sat the Incan site of Sacsayhuaman, which had massive stones that fit perfectly with one another, it was very cool (the stones don’t look that big in the first picture, but you can see us next to them, cut perfectly and fit into place).

After this Arturo took us to a boutique hotel with a small restaurant and outdoor patio; the restaurant wasn’t open yet so it was just us and the waiter who brought us small Peruvian bites of food which we ate delightfully and washed down with a Pisco sour, of course. Jessica has further details on the food, and the view was simply spectacular.

We returned at dusk to the hotel, providing an excelling view of the courtyard and the 300-year old-Andean Cedar Tree, the last of its kind in Peru.

Our next day was a trip to the nearby Sacred Valley, which was an important part of the Incan Empire and on the way to and from Machu Picchu. Stretching from the village of Pisac to the town of Ollantaytambo, following the course of the Urubamba River (borrowed from Jessica’s blog), we visited Ollantaytambo first, which is really hard to say, even though you can sound it out (there’s a lot of syllables). Originally an Incan and pre-Incan fortress (we learned a lot about pre-Incan culture throughout our travels). It is a truly breathtaking area, here’s the view looking back from the main site, with the walk up view to follow (and Jessica and I in front of both):

After we had lunch at a fancy restaurant that felt hidden away in the mountains; Jessica delves deeper in Part 2 of her Cusco/Sacred Valley post. After finishing lunch, we visited the Pisac archaeological ruins, even higher up (which was 10,000 feet+ at this point). These massive walled terrace farms were used to supply food to the whole area, and we took in the beauty of being surrounded by mountains and lush valleys.

We made our way back to Cusco, even venturing out in the city at night, visiting the highest Irish owned bar in the world, and enjoying an evening in Cusco, finally ending our night at the hotel bar, enjoying some craft cocktails and ready for our trip to Machu Picchu the next day!