Traveling the World: Winter to Summer - A Month in the Summer Hemisphere

After the wonderful surprise of Lima, we headed from the coast to the mountains of Cusco; 11,000 feet worth of mountains to be exact -- a fact we were reminded of as soon as we got off the plane and went up and down a flight of stairs.

Our trip started with a transfer from the Belmond back to the Lima airport for our 1.5 hour trip, via Avianca, to Cusco. The ride from Miraflores to Callao took about 45 minutes - noting once again that knowing how to get from point A to point B is less important than avoiding traffic tie-ups along the way - which our driver adroitly did. On the road to the airport, we made a quick stop at a Lima pharmacy to pick up a prescription medication we couldn't get before we left Naples. Five minutes later, we were back in our car with the required medicine, for a total cost of $2.37 - we didn't need the actual prescription, we just needed the name.

The flight from Lima to Cusco was uneventful - the contrast between the arid coastline around Lima and the verdant valleys surrounding Cusco was immediately evident.

Cusco - a city surrounded by hills

As we were coming to expect from our Incas Expert Travel host, our driver and guide were waiting for us as soon as we picked up our bags and off we headed to our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, located in the Cusco hills adjacent to the Plaza de Santa Ana, and a short walk or taxi (6 Soles - less than $2 USD) ride to the Plaza de Armas - the center of historic old town Cusco.

Our guide Mary

Plaza de Armas

After getting our bags settled in our room, we headed out on our tour of Cusco, hosted by Mary from Incas Expert Travel. Mary would spend the next three hours helping us understand old town Cusco, while taking us back to the time before the Spanish arrived. Starting our tour at the Plaza de Armas really gave us a feel for Cusco's vibe -- a combination of restless energy with hustle and bustle in North Face and Patagonia fashions. So we'd have energy for our afternoon tour, we started with lunch at the Inka Grill and a traditional Peruvian plate of Aji de Gallina.

We accompanied our lunch with a cup of Mate de Coca (Coca Tea) to help alleviate the slight effects we were feeling of the rapid altitude change. After lunch Mary walked us over to the Convent of Santo Domingo and the Temple of the Sun -- Qorikancha. As we'd seen in Lima, when the Spanish arrived, they immediately began a "redevelopment tear down" of the existing Inca temple as the basis for their own church. And in cases where they didn't actually tear something down, they covered it up with frescos or paintings. 500+ years later when the original Spanish construction was getting re-done, they discovered the underlaying Inca era architecture covered in many cases with plaster and frescos.

Qorikancha/Convent of Santo Domingo

Inca era stone work used as a foundation for the Convent of Santo Domingo uncovered during rework of the Spanish era construction.

15th Century Frescos discovered during renovation

Fields of potatoes

After a great hour or so touring old town Cusco, we went back further in time to the hills surrounding Cusco; back to the Inca empire and the Saqsaywaman archeological area (or as a wag would comment later, "Sexy Woman"). While we were on the way there, Mary talked to us about the importance of potatoes, their cultivation, and the tremendous number of varieties grown in and around this part of Peru. Mary was so knowledgeable about Peruvian history and able to explain the relevance and context of everything. After having Gustavo guiding us through Lima and now Mary taking us through Cusco, we realized how important it is to have a quality local guide to understand how history has brought us to where things are today. Moreover, this was the first time in all our travels we'd made the conscious effort to engage a local travel agent -- Incas Expert Travel - to arrange for private guides in each venue. As we'd find throughout our trip, our experience in Peru was immeasurably enhanced by having a personal and knowledgeable local guide.

You can read everything on the web or in a book, but neither convey the sense of how history, old and new, combine into a people, their outlook, and their sense of both heritage and future -- our personal guides were our docents into Peru and their unique combination of Andean and Spanish culture. Carmen in Sacred Valley and Peter in Machu Picchu just reinforced the impression we'd now formed. If we are going to spend money traveling to see new and unique places with storied histories, we're going to make sure we spend the time required to find and hire local guides who turn facts into memories and give names to impressions - Gustavo, Mary, Carmen, and Peter will be inexorably tied to our Peruvian experiences.

We provide scale for some of the structure...

Our primary take away from Saqsaywaman has got to be similar to the feeling of wonder associated with seeing other ancient structures like the pyramids in Egypt. How did they cut and move these huge stones to form such immense structures. And in an era where 30 year old homes and 100 year old buildings are "old", these ancient structures have survived for almost 1000 years and still evoke wonder and reverence for the inspiration and hard work they represent.

To commemorate our visit to ancient Cusco, we stopped at Esmeralda Joyeria for some souvenir shopping. The cool part of the shopping was the education we received on silver smithing and alpaca, llama, and wool grading. We walked out with a very cool silver pendant and a baby Alpaca fur for our couch.

With sightseeing and shopping done in Cusco, its time to take a look at some of the places we ate while in Cusco. While we had super, world class gourmet meals in Lima at Central and Fiesta Gourmet, I think we felt we had better food in Cusco.

Pizza at Bodega 138

Up first is Bodega 138, a craft beer and wood fired pizza restaurant just a half block away from the Plaza de Armas. Bodega 138 was a "must visit" received from our Belmond Guest Relations buddy Andrea - we weren't disappointed. After a long day of flying, sight seeing and shopping at 11K+ altitude, we were ready for pizza and beer.

Next up was a visit to Limbus Resto Bar - the #1 Trip Advisor rated restaurant in Cusco. And as you'll sometimes find in Trip Advisor, "#1" doesn't necessarily translate into the best restaurant (or hotel, attraction, etc) but it generally does mean it's memorable and in the case of Limbus, this was certainly true. First though, we had to find it and this wasn't an easy task since there weren't any signs. With help from a couple of residents, we were able to find the little side alley where the entrance to Limbus is. Once we entered Limbus and walked up the stairs, we could instantly see why it is rated #1 in Trip Advisor - the view of Cusco from Limbus is amazing. The vibe is young and trendy -- good music and beer -- food wasn't memorable but who needs food when you are looking at the most romantic view in Cusco -- in fact, the majority of customers we saw were young couples on romantic dates. No matter how hot the date though, no one could stay out on the patio for more than a few minutes after the sun went down. Even in mid-summer, it cools off pretty fast at 11k feet, and the wind blows hard up the hill at Limbus Resto. It was fun to watch succeeding couples happily sit down on the patio, end up getting a lap blanket next, and finally moving from the patio into the restaurant proper and behind the glass patio doors.

The best city lights view in Cusco

If Limbus had the most memorable view, Moreno Peruvian Kitchen had the best food we ate in all of Peru, a combination of fresh Peruvian ingredients cooked in a nouveau fusion style. We ate downstairs in an atmosphere not unlike that we'd experienced in Limbus - young people, moving with energy, lots of romantic couples, but this time rather than a heart stopping view, the cuisine, ingredients, and service were the main course. Our server, Maria, was so good - taking care of everything perfectly - and when I made an order boo boo - she fixed it right away without complaint and complete grace.

Lima started our culinary experience in Peru - Cusco introduced us to some of the regional ingredients -- potatoes and quinoa growing in fields throughout the hills -- and Moreno showed us how you can turn the freshest local ingredients into remarkable meals. Eating in Cusco reinforced what we'd found to be true in Lima - Peruvians take real pride in their food and prices -- relative to the dollar --- are amazing.

I started by talking about our altitude surprise when we got off the plane but truthfully, after a day hiking around Cusco, a cup or two of Coca and Muna tea (a local mint like herb with altitude ameliorating characteristics), we didn't have any problems sleeping or shortness of breath once we figured we needed to slow down. The other considerations passed on to us by locals were ensuring we didn't drink any booze and eating easy to digest meals the first day since everything in your system slows down. By the time we left the mountains around Cusco four days later, we had completely acclimated and were able to have wine with our evening meal.

Next up, an all day trip into the Sacred Valley