High in the Andes: Flying into Cusco

My daughter, my wife and I arrive in Lima after midnight on an uneventful flight from Atlanta.  We’ve planned on not spending any time in Lima on this trip, so because of the late hour and the fact that we’ve got an early flight the next day to Cusco, we’ve booked rooms at the Costa del Sol Wyndham Lima Airport Hotel which is conveniently attached to the airport by a second floor walkway.  You pay for the convenience – it is very expensive by Peruvian standards.  While there are cheaper hotels a taxi ride away, I have heard that Lima taxis are expensive, so perhaps when you factor that in, staying right at the airport makes more sense. This hotel does not exude charm or local flavor at all – but it fills its role as a functional airport hotel just fine.  It provides Wi-Fi and a free breakfast and the rooms are nicely appointed with comfortable beds.  We don’t have much time to enjoy the beds given our late night and early morning. 

We are at the airport the next morning with plenty of time to exchange some dollars for Nuevo Sols.  As it turns out, we don’t need to hurry since our Peruvian Airlines flight to Cusco is delayed and then delayed again.  From what I have heard, this is business as usual for domestic flights in Peru.  When we are finally on the plane and airborne, it is a beautiful flight with the Andes reaching up towards us from below.It is afternoon by the time we arrive in Cusco.  We’ve arranged a ride from the airport to our hotel, the Casonales Pleiades, an attractive little hotel about a block from the Plaza San Blas.  Our driver parks in the plaza and we have to walk the last block to get to the hotel due to the narrowness of the street and a set of steps.  Taking that walk, and going up those steps is my first reminder that Cusco is high in the Andes at over 11,000 feet.  Any exertion at all has my lungs searching for every available scrap of oxygen!  The Pleiades is positioned around a small, charming courtyard that is open to the sky and at one end has a circular staircase winding up to balconies that serve the second and third floor rooms.  We check in and have a pleasant chat with the desk clerk who offers us a refreshing cup of coca tea. 

Courtyard and stairs at the Casonales Pleiades 

We spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the areas around our hotel and central Cusco.  First impressions:  The streets predate cars, and are very narrow – many streets are single lane and cars hardly fit through!  Many streets are cobblestone and most are steep – we are in the mountains!  A walk is like an aerobic workout!  

A Cusco Street

In our brief foray around Cusco we are constantly accosted by people selling stuff – this is a city that depends on tourists for much of its income.  My wife, Kathy, buys a couple paintings from a young woman carrying her baby on her back.  We also chat with some ladies in traditional dress with a baby as well as a baby lamb, and the expected interaction takes place – they pose for pictures and we give them money. 

Posing Ladies

We are blown away by the Incan walls of 16^th century Spanish buildings – the Spanish destroyed the buildings then built new structures utilizing the pre-existing walls.  One such wall forms the outer wall of the Museo Palacio Arzobispal (Museum of the Archbishop's Palace) and is located on a street named “Hatun Rumiyoc” which is Quechua for “big stone.”  The general assumption is that this wall was originally part of the palace of Inca Roca, who ruled in the 14^th century.  The technique used to construct this wall is called Cyclopean polygonal masonry.  It consists of gigantic stones with multiple sides that are fitted together without mortar and with absolute perfection – like a giant puzzle.  This wall contains a large carved stone with twelve angles.  There are larger stones, and a few with more angles that may be found in other Incan walls in Peru, but this stone has such defined sides and it interfaces its neighboring stones with such perfection that it is famous throughout Peru and a source of pride among the citizens of Cusco.  If you visit this wall, it will be easy to pick out this stone.  If for some reason you don’t see it, there will be any number of people standing right there on the street who will be happy to point it out for just a little money. 

 Left - Tourists by Incan Wall on Hatum Rumiyoc   

Above - Wall Detail (note perfectly fitted stones)

After wandering around central Cusco all afternoon, we have a nice dinner at a restaurant near the San Blas plaza called Pacha Pappa - a restaurant with great ambiance and delicious food.  It has a large courtyard scattered with dining tables and a huge brick oven where many of the delicacies are prepared.

After dinner, we return to the Pleiades for our night’s rest, knowing that we’ve got another early morning in front of us.