We commenced the day with a leisurely breakfast and said farewell to the travelers (including Marcus & Deb) who were heading off for two days in the Peruvian rainforest region of the upper Amazon near Peurto Maldonardo.
We spent the majority of the day sight seeing around the ancient Inca centre of Cusco. The Spaniards when they invaded and conquered this Inca capital destroyed many of the buildings but retained the foundations and then built their own edifices upon these stone bases. Consequently, around the centre of Cusco you see magnificent stone foundations built from intricately carved granite boulders so large that they must weigh a tonne or more. These blocks are locked together like jigsaw pieces with no spaces between. The Cusco cathedral is one such building based on an Inca rock foundation.
The centre of Cusco has a large and open square, Plaza de Armas, surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings including the Cathedral.
We visited the Inca Museum and spent a very enjoyable and educational 2 hours seeing the collection of artifacts and reading of the Inca history. The collection of Inca mummies was quite confronting!
We then did some shopping and Corinne found and acquired a beautiful silver pendant inlaid with red oyster shell; it’s exquisite!
After lunch we wandered amongst the narrow alleyways and observed the frenetic sales-people who insist upon one checking out the quality of their wares whether they be alpaca jumpers, belts, paintings, jewellery, post cards, …..
We then visited the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (MAP) which had a marvelous collection of gold, silver, ceramic and wooden artifacts pre-dating much of the Inca period. The information given with each item was most comprehensive and the amount of reading (it was in English too) meant we spent a lot longer there than in the Inca Museum.
We then wandered up into the artists’ quarter and visited a number of small private galleries which served as shops for the resident artist. Much of the work was oriented towards the popular tourist market but some work was unusual and very interesting in its form and use of colour. We purchased a ceramic mask, a replica of one from the Inca period.
We finished our day’s wandering by visiting the Cusco Coca Museum. This was small but intriguing with its focus on the use for the coca plant and also on the destructive effects that cocaine has had on the world. It was interesting to see Sigmund Freud and other notable individuals recommending coca for remedies to certain physical and psychological ailments.
We plan to spend tomorrow away from Cusco and we hope to go white water rafting.