It had to happen. Teresa and I, now left to our own devices, slept in (not really), had a big San Augustin Hotel breakfast (with detox juice) and began to tick of all the things that were on our to-do list.
At 8 AM, we dropped of laundry. One week into the trip and I'd say we had worn to the point of nastiness, almost everything that had been packed. Including gloves, hats, scarfs, jackets and all the layers that go beneath. Pick up was 7 PM the same day, so now we had 11 hours to whittle away!
By 9 AM we were touring the Historical Museum on the other side of the main square. Fascinating! It was broken into two main parts: The Inca part and the Spanish part. By all accounts it was a violent transition from Inca spirituality to Catholicism. Politely declining to be converted, was not an option. Pretty sure that's not what Jesus had in mind when he said go forth and spread the word... but what do I know?!
Then we hit the markets. It was time to pump our blood full of some of that delicious fruit smoothie that we tried the other day. A little pick-me-up, if you will. I'm still working on the proviso that I have hiked enough uphill this week to warrant some extra sugar.
We also found some little bags of Peruvian salt of various descriptions and picked up some as gifts. I did have some concerns about the weight of my bag and honestly, there is nothing light about carrying salt and I'm not sure why I didn't remember that!
The spontaneous part of our day happened when we were stopped by a cute young Peruvian gal on a back-alley cobblestoned street. She was offering us 'masaje' at her new spa kinda place. 10 mins later, we were each laying on massage tables, covered in clean sheets, getting our feet worked on with essential oils, to the sound of pan flute music. O.M.G where has this been all my life?!
Around lunchtime, we met up with Alex at the main square fountain. So nice to see him again! It had been all of 18 hours since he left us at the hotel last night and already we missed him. The 3 of us enjoyed a rather spectacular lunch at Inca Grill overlooking the square. FANCY! I had the most delectable short ribs and these little purple potato dinner rolls. Mmmmm...
And then, it was off to the art district. Basically we climbed a hill toward a church and along the way, visited gallery after gallery and found trinket shops out the wazoo. The vendors saw us coming. Despite only having one head, I apparently find myself buying 3 hats! There is something quite decadent about alpaca wool apparel... Unfortunately my friend and I appear to be enablers, rather than the voice of reason, for each other.
With just one thing left on our Cusco bucket list today, we took a small break at the hotel first.
The Qorikancha Museaum is a small but significant one. It took all of 15 minutes to get through the main part... but we took a bit longer in the mummies room. Yes, you heard me correctly. Real, actual mummies. Human sacrifices "rescued" by archaeologists and displayed 2 feet from you, behind a little bit of glass! There was hair, toenails and black skin stretched tightly over bones as each mummy is rested in fetal position. I'm not even sure how I feel about this.
Stop reading if you are weirded out by these things....
The mummy room had a distinctive smell. I would say something between a horse saddle and a rehydrated potato. Huh... yep. Still not sure what to make of the whole thing except to say it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm still mulling it over. The mummification cult/followers would treat the mummified leaders as though they were still alive. Carrying them around, serving them food then giving them "time together" and the best part... taking leadership wisdom from them... "listening" to them! It eventually resulted in factions between Incas, since there were also leaders who were alive and well and sometimes the mummies and the live leaders didn't agree so there were conflicts.
What a way to end our time in Cusco, huh?!
Dinner? Rainbow cake and tea in our hotel room. Yeah. I'm on vacation and that means I have zero guilt about eating cake for dinner. Especially 7 layers of different colors, enveloped in a whipped white frosting! (I know what you're thinking. "Dallice never seems to have guilt about cake for dinner, even when not on vacation." 'Tis true! Hahaha. Life is too short!)
The rest of the evening involved picking up laundry and packing, repacking and packing again. I was fairly convinced that my bag was now close to going over 50lb. Wish us luck at the airport tomorrow!
At 8 AM, we dropped of laundry. One week into the trip and I'd say we had worn to the point of nastiness, almost everything that had been packed. Including gloves, hats, scarfs, jackets and all the layers that go beneath. Pick up was 7 PM the same day, so now we had 11 hours to whittle away!
By 9 AM we were touring the Historical Museum on the other side of the main square. Fascinating! It was broken into two main parts: The Inca part and the Spanish part. By all accounts it was a violent transition from Inca spirituality to Catholicism. Politely declining to be converted, was not an option. Pretty sure that's not what Jesus had in mind when he said go forth and spread the word... but what do I know?!
 |
| There was a trio playing in the courtyard. Beautiful. Gentle music. |
Then we hit the markets. It was time to pump our blood full of some of that delicious fruit smoothie that we tried the other day. A little pick-me-up, if you will. I'm still working on the proviso that I have hiked enough uphill this week to warrant some extra sugar.
We also found some little bags of Peruvian salt of various descriptions and picked up some as gifts. I did have some concerns about the weight of my bag and honestly, there is nothing light about carrying salt and I'm not sure why I didn't remember that!
The spontaneous part of our day happened when we were stopped by a cute young Peruvian gal on a back-alley cobblestoned street. She was offering us 'masaje' at her new spa kinda place. 10 mins later, we were each laying on massage tables, covered in clean sheets, getting our feet worked on with essential oils, to the sound of pan flute music. O.M.G where has this been all my life?!
Around lunchtime, we met up with Alex at the main square fountain. So nice to see him again! It had been all of 18 hours since he left us at the hotel last night and already we missed him. The 3 of us enjoyed a rather spectacular lunch at Inca Grill overlooking the square. FANCY! I had the most delectable short ribs and these little purple potato dinner rolls. Mmmmm...
And then, it was off to the art district. Basically we climbed a hill toward a church and along the way, visited gallery after gallery and found trinket shops out the wazoo. The vendors saw us coming. Despite only having one head, I apparently find myself buying 3 hats! There is something quite decadent about alpaca wool apparel... Unfortunately my friend and I appear to be enablers, rather than the voice of reason, for each other.
With just one thing left on our Cusco bucket list today, we took a small break at the hotel first.
The Qorikancha Museaum is a small but significant one. It took all of 15 minutes to get through the main part... but we took a bit longer in the mummies room. Yes, you heard me correctly. Real, actual mummies. Human sacrifices "rescued" by archaeologists and displayed 2 feet from you, behind a little bit of glass! There was hair, toenails and black skin stretched tightly over bones as each mummy is rested in fetal position. I'm not even sure how I feel about this.
Stop reading if you are weirded out by these things....
The mummy room had a distinctive smell. I would say something between a horse saddle and a rehydrated potato. Huh... yep. Still not sure what to make of the whole thing except to say it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm still mulling it over. The mummification cult/followers would treat the mummified leaders as though they were still alive. Carrying them around, serving them food then giving them "time together" and the best part... taking leadership wisdom from them... "listening" to them! It eventually resulted in factions between Incas, since there were also leaders who were alive and well and sometimes the mummies and the live leaders didn't agree so there were conflicts.
What a way to end our time in Cusco, huh?!
Dinner? Rainbow cake and tea in our hotel room. Yeah. I'm on vacation and that means I have zero guilt about eating cake for dinner. Especially 7 layers of different colors, enveloped in a whipped white frosting! (I know what you're thinking. "Dallice never seems to have guilt about cake for dinner, even when not on vacation." 'Tis true! Hahaha. Life is too short!)
The rest of the evening involved picking up laundry and packing, repacking and packing again. I was fairly convinced that my bag was now close to going over 50lb. Wish us luck at the airport tomorrow!
