Cuzco and the Sacred Valley -- Our Inca Journey: Day One

After a busy month and a hectic couple of weeks of study and preparation for our midterms, I finally have the time to seriously sit down and write about the amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip that we took to Cuzco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It was a four day weekend filled with history, culture, travel, and wonderful panoramic mountain views.

Our trip began very early on a Thursday morning, which necessitated our rising at 3:45 a.m. in order to catch a 6:50 a.m. flight out of Lima. After a week of classes, we waited in the airport, exhausted but ready to travel. Our plane was a tiny little thing that would take us on the hour long journey east over the Andes Mountains to land in the city of Cuzco, approximately 3,400 meters or 11,150 feet above sea level. Because I somehow scored a prime window seat, I was able to see the flat coastal area of Lima fall away to be replaced by staggering brown peaks of the start of the Andes. From our altitude, we looked down upon the mountain tops as they broke through the clouds; they looked like islands with the swirling white clouds flowing between them like ocean water.

The city of Cuzco, nestled in a valley between towering Andean peaks.

I have never been at a high altitude before, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I stepped off the plane. However, the first deep breath I took was as cool and sweet as a brisk November day, and I luckily didn't suffer from any adverse affects from the altitude.

Our bus picked us up at the airport and trundled us away to the Royal Inca 2 Hotel, close to the Plaza de Armas in the center of Cuzco. As we passed through the heart of the city, the cobbled streets and colonial architecture transported us back in time, and it seemed as if the setting and atmosphere belonged to Rome or Venice, not the middle of the Peruvian mountains.

A colonial arch at the beginning of one of the main avenues. 

A Spanish-era cathedral in the Plaza de Armas during sunset. Cuzco, Peru.

On the first day in Cuzco, it is highly recommended that you take it easy so as not to over exert yourself at the high altitude. With this in mind, most of the students in our group rested in the hotel, but a friend and I decided we would go out and explore the city instead -- at a very slow place. One thing I wanted to see was the convent of Santo Domingo that sits on top of the ruins of Koricancha, the ancient Inca sun temple that once stood covered in gold. Even though the gold had been stripped away in the 16th century to help pay for Pizarro's ransom of Inca emperor Atahualpa, the stones still stand, black and dark grey in a curved wall beneath the ornate colonial convent. Both still stand in tandem, and it was impressive to stand there and gaze at all that history and how it was preserved throughout the centuries.

The convent of Santo Domingo is the large building on top. Beneath it, you can see the black walls of Koricancha. Though it's hard to see in the picture, the stones of Koricancha are fitted together with amazing precision, without mortar. The Spanish built the church atop the temple ruins as a symbol of strength and superiority, yet in one of the numerous earthquakes, many of the Spanish colonial structures were destroyed, revealing the much sturdier and older Inca ruins beneath.

After Koricancha, we simply lost ourselves in the cobbled winding streets of Cuzco. Cuzco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world because it is a jumble of antiquity and modernity, and relics of the Spanish and Incas can still be seen. The most impressive of the Spanish contribution are the stunning, giant cathedrals and basilicas that dot the city, with beautiful crenelations and 16th century architecture -- especially the two that stand in the Plaza de Armas. These two giant churches take up two sides of the square, and yet in the middle is an elaborate carved fountain with a gold statue of Pachacutec, a great Inca emperor. This is perfect symbolism of how these two cultures continue to coexist in Cuzco.

Statue of Pachacutec as he points towards the mountains.

The feel of Cuzco is very colonial with its carved wooden balconies, ornate lampposts, and narrow, winding lanes and staircases that traverse the rolling city, and yet the streets are filled with Peruvians in traditional Andean bright clothes and bold prints, and many of the street names are in Quechua. We even saw a woman on a street corner with a platter of six or seven cuyes, or roasted guinea pig. 

Later in the evening, we ventured out to an Andean craft market to shop and bargain for souvenirs. Cuzco is considered to be a main location to buy products made from llama and alpaca wool, and the vendors are more than happy to haggle with you in order to earn your business. We even got the chance to meet a sweet baby lamb from a kindly Andean woman we met. Later, we crossed through the Plaza de Armas at night on the way back to our hotel, and saw the surrounding slopes lit up with blue and orange balls of light, marking the homes of those living in the outskirts of the city.