Cuzco

When we got into Cuzco, it was 8am.  We had been traveling all night.  Neither one of us had gotten much sleep.  So, we did what any exhausted individuals would do...

We went exploring.

First thing we found was the Plaza de Armas.  It is the former site of the Palaces of Inca Huyana Cápac and Inca Viracocha.  The Plaza de Armas is now the site of the Iglesia de Compañía and the Catedral.  Also, it is a plaza, so people like to hang out there.

The Catedral was built first.

It was built to celebrate the Spaniards victory over Manco Inca.  Manco Inca had been fighting over the empire with a half brother (Atahualpa) from Quito when the Spanish arrived.  The Spanish army killed Atahualpa and marched into Cuzco as heroes.  Manco later realized they were no such things and fled Cuzco to amass an army to fight the Spanish.  Unfortunately, he did not win.

 The Iglesia was built in the following century by the Jesuits.

After the Plaza de Armas, we wandered.  Cuzco is very hilly.  The Incas really seemd to like putting walls and stairs and roads on hills.   There is a lot of Inca infrastructure still in Cuzco.  A lot of the stone roads in these photos were built by the Incas. 

In 1950 an earthquake struck Cuzco destroying nearly 63% of the buildings.  Nearly all of which were constructed after the Spanish conquest.  Incan foundations, doorways, walls, etc all still stood.  Very little of the Inca built structures were even affected by the earthquake.  Really, truly amazing!

The stones on the bottom are Inca walls that have stood for hundreds of years.  The adobe on top is new construction. Bottom photo is an Inca stairway.  Crazy.

Amazing to see, but still hard to hike uphill all day at 11,000 ft.  Just saying.  My heart felt like exploding many times.

I met a woman named Jesusia who sells hand made goods on the stairs outside her home.  She was pretty awesome, and despite my sad excuse of 3 years high school Spanish and her not speaking any English, we were able to communicate.  I guess money really does talk, in any language.  I bought some really great stuff, for very cheap.

I got a hat, some socks, two pairs of gloves, two baby sweaters, a poncho and a hat for my aunt (not pictured) all for 145 Nuevo Sol.  Which equals about $55 US.  So...not a bad deal.

She also threw these guys in for free.

The Nuevo Sol is really in pretty good shape.  It has been in use since the early nineties and has managed to remain fairly stable against the dollar, tending to fall somewhere between 2.5-3.5 against our 1.  It is also one of the few South American currencies that saw little affect from the weakening dollar.  I say, well done Peru.

Mas Luego.