The next morning, we flew from Lima to Cusco. We had a whole day planned of awesome tours in the city. We were going to see the Centro Historia de Cusco, Sacsayhuaman, Qorikancha, Plaza de Armas, Qenqo, Tambomachay, Tipon & a few other museums and beautiful churches. We usually only had one meal a day since we were pretty busy all day long and we were lucky if we had enough time to get a little snack. By the time we ended our tours for the day(pretty much everyday), we were starving and couldn't wait to go out to eat for dinner. It was worth it though. We were able to see a lot! :)
I took a few photos at the airport in Lima and of us getting on our plane.
We flew with Peruvian air. Even though it was a smaller plane, it was very nice, comfortable and the flight attendants were very nice.
Here I took a few photos while we were on our way to our hotel.
Below are a couple of photos of our hotel in Cusco. It was adorable and walking distance to a lot amazing places. The first thing they offer you while your checking in is Coca tea also known as mate de coca.
If you have never heard of coca tea, it is is an herbal tea (infusion) made using the (typically raw) leaves of the coca plant, which is native to South America. It is made either by submerging the coca leaf or dipping a tea bag in hot water. The tea is most commonly consumed in the Andes mountain range, particularly Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. It is greenish yellow in color and has a mild bitter flavor similar to green tea with a more organic sweetness.
It is supposed to help with altitude sickness.
Heading out for our tour!!
This was the view from our tour of the Qorikancha.
Sacsayhuaman
Loved the tour of Sacsayhuaman. It was just hard to climb since we were not use to the high altitude. At times, we were breathing like we had just ran a mile with only a few steps going up
The view of Cusco from Sacsayhuaman.
As we were walking to go see Tambomachay, this Alpaca decides to just walk right behind us. He was too cute. I wanted to bring him home!
Love these photos of Ric and I below! Some of my favorites!!
Walking up to Tambomachay
Tambomachay
This Inca site with canals, waterfalls & aqueducts is thought to have been built to worship water.
This is just part of Qenqo. It kind of reminded me of the city of rocks. ha! But these rocks were not volcanic rock formations. These rocks are the remains of an Inca Temple and the tunnels were carved by Incas.
After our tours, lots more sightseeing, walking for hours, climbing at times, we finally were able to go eat dinner. We went to a place called Inka Grill. It was so delicious.
This was my plate! I had a quinoa stuffed red pepper with goat cheese. I usually don't eat cheese, but I figured this one time wouldn't kill me. LOL! Besides it was goat cheese. Everything in Peru is fresh. Really fresh. and delicious!
Ric ate Alpaca! He said it was good, but would rather have steak!
That poor Alpaca was probably killed that morning just so Ric could eat dinner. :(
I tried the Pisco Sour and Ric tried Inca Kola.
Hope you're enjoying my photos so far!
xoxo - Michelle