Peru and Chile in 11 Days – Part 2 – Exploring Cusco
Lack of adequate sleep will do crazy things to your mind. Usually on the days I don’t get enough sleep, life appears to unfold slowly, deliberately. The cadence of everything around me becomes a stark contrast to the weighty inertia that physically grips me. Then there are the other days, when lack of sleep actually translates into a heightened sense of energy and perception – it’s as if the backup battery kicks in and instead of the plain alkalines you work with each day, you unexpectedly get hooked up to a supercharged lithium ion. In the case of our first official day of sightseeing in Peru, I was fortuitously blessed with the latter.
After a non-eventful overnight in the Lima airport to await my mom’s arrival from Miami, the three of us washed the sleep from our faces and freshened up in the domestic lounge before catching the 7am flight from Lima to Cusco. The domestic lounge is apparently a new addition to the airport, and one we discovered just an hour before our scheduled flight (hence our setting up camp at Starbucks several hours earlier). It was not until we passed through security and entered the domestic wing of the airport did we happen to spot the sign to the lounge (at which point, my husband gifted me with a not-so-amused look that communicated his displeasure at having spent the past several hours in a hard wooden chair when a comfy couch, finger sandwiches and freshly squeezed tropical juice was just steps away – oops!). But remember I had my new battery pack on and was able to shrug his irritation away with a charming smile and a slightly contrite “well-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it-now” look. In my defense, the lounge agent told us the lounge was new (“Priority Pass” required) and had just opened a few months ago (info that had not made its way to the Flyertalk or Google searches I pulled up). Future travelers to Lima take note, there is a lounge available in the domestic terminal that should render the need to stake out a table at Starbucks obsolete!
Cusco, Here We Come!
Upon arrival in Cusco, we were met by our friendly guide and driver, Sabino of DUP Tours, just outside of baggage claim. Although we were towards the middle of the pack to disembark, we ended up being the last to exit the terminal due to a last minute dash to find an airport restroom. Thinking that there would be a restroom near baggage claim, we made it all the way there only to discover that the lone restroom was out of service and we had to make the trek back towards the gate to find a serviceable one. Ah the joys of restroom hunting while abroad – never a dull moment!
Fortunately, Sabino was patiently waiting for us outside the terminal despite the fact that the crowd of arriving passengers had already thinned considerably. With an easy smile, he helped us with our bags and we were soon en route to our first destination – the ticket office for Machu Picchu tickets. Prior to our trip, my husband had tried numerous times to purchase the tickets online through the government website but had no luck with the dreaded Verified by Visa roadblock for our credit cards. Several emails and a handful of calls to both Chase and Visa later, Mr. Travelbypoints finally threw in the towel and planned to purchase the tickets directly in Cusco. After a 10 minute car ride through the narrow alleyways of Cusco, we arrived at the ticket office and completed the transaction in less than 10 minutes.
In Search of the Temple of the Sun – Donde Esta?
From there, Sabino drove us to the Koricancha Temple in the heart of downtown Cusco. The Koricancha, or “Golden Temple” in Quechua, was once the most important temple in the Incan Empire and its walls were said to be covered with gleaming sheets of solid gold. Most of the treasures housed by these walls have since been removed, as the story goes, to pay the ransom of kidnapped Incan Ruler Atahualpa, who was summarily executed by the Spanish even after the gold was delivered. Today, the site is also home to the Church of Santo Domingo and represents a vivid juxtaposition of Incan and Spanish architecture.
As we wandered the grounds, my mom, who had never professed any interest in South American history, was struck by a wave of sadness when I related the history of the Spanish conquest of Peru. It’s one thing to read about something like that in school, and an entirely different experience to be walking through the very doors and hallways that the ancient Incan rulers themselves utilized several hundred years ago and to witness firsthand the remarkable ingenuity of these indigenous people (in the subsequent earthquakes that racked the city, only the Incan structures survived and the Spanish built structures had to be rebuilt numerous times).
Upon walking into a second room adorned with paintings of Spanish priests and noblemen, I walked over to an attendant entrusted with the task of supervising wayward tourists and asked in broken Spanish, “Perdone, donde esta el lugar mas sagrado por los inkas?” (Where is the most sacred place for the Inkas?) At first, she gave me a perplexed look, but upon my repeating the same question, her eyes lit up with recognition and she pointed me towards the outdoor terraces, which she called the “Templo del Sol” or Temple of the Sun.
Her directions, while presumably succinct in Spanish, still had me at a loss once we emerged from the painting room. As I told my inquiring mother after the helpful attendant finished giving me the directions, I knew that derecho/izquierda meant left or right, I just couldn’t remember which was which. Not terribly helpful when you need to ask for directions!
Nonetheless, 10 minutes, a lot of hand gestures and stopping to ask two more attendants for directions later (to which my mom remarked, “What’s the point of asking for directions if you can’t understand what they say?), we finally found ourselves at the magnificent outdoor plaza otherwise known as the sacred Temple of the Sun.
In stark contrast to the formal architecture of the main grounds, the Temple of the Sun was an expansive carpet of green trimmed with bright flowers and the occasional stone marker. Noticeably absent were the throng of tourists who populated the inner church and my mom and I found ourselves alone as we made our way to the plaza.
When we reached an open circular and partially shaded area, I fished out an item I had asked my mom to pack with her at the last minute. Gently I unwrapped a small dry tea ball from a foil bag and together with my mom, placed the small offering on the stone altar at the center of the circular ring of stones. We said a simple prayer of thanks for the opportunity to be there together in that sacred space and for the amazing days that lay ahead of us in our South American travels.
As we finished our prayer, my husband appeared above us in the landing overlooking the plaza and gestured that it was time to meet Sabino outside the Church and continue on to our next destination in Cusco, the Plaza de Armas.
Our day of exploration had just begun!
