Emily and I are currently staying in Cusco, and while she naps before dinner, I am here to update everythang. Cusco is a beautiful city, as it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in North and South America. It is quite shocking to go from the Peruvian countryside, which is very poor and looks only slightly more prosperous than Bolivia, to the historic centre of Cusco, which looks exactly like Europe. The buildings and churches here are absolutely incredible, I always thought that Quebec city looked the most like Europe, but I don´t think so anymore.
Most of the churches in this area were built (or began construction) in the 16th century, and it looks like almost all of the buildings range from 16th-18th century. The walls are incredibly thick, doorways are tiny, all the streets are cobblestone, and there are gorgeous alleyways everywhere. Unfortunately, it is incredibly touristy, which is quite irritating, but the urban scenery makes up for it.
We leave tomorrow morning for Aguas Caliente, the small city just below Machu Picchu, which in of itself is supposed to be awful, due to the tourism. However, it is necessary to stay here if you want to visit Machu Picchu at 6 in the morning, for the sunrise. The plus side is that if you arrive there that early, the site is relatively empty until 10am when all the tourists from Cusco arrive. Then you can climb a mountain beside the site and get some of the classic pictures of the site. We will then bus back to Aguas Caliente in the afternoon, and take an early evening train back to Cusco. We spend Sunday night in Cusco, before heading to Lima on Monday. We will be flying back to Lima, so we have a few days to enjoy there.
We will be flying back home on Thursday, August 7th at 1:30am, which means we arrive back at 10:30am in Toronto. We are looking forward to the last part of our trip, and we have been enjoying Cusco, but we really miss Bolivia. Peru is slightly more polished, more rules, more tourists, and a bit less friendly (because of all the other tourists). Some things we have noticed, it seems here that you have to wear a seatbelt, which is irritating. There is no smoking in some restaurants, which we must admit we do appreciate. I´m also not sure if you are allowed to drink in public here, rather unfortunate. Bolivia has its flaws, but it also has more liberty.
I will publish another post once we get to Lima, to give some details about Machu Picchu. Other than that, I had better get going, as Emily is waiting (sleeping) at the hotel, it´s 8:20 and we haven´t had dinner yet. I think we will go to the same Japanese place as last night because it is easy on the stomach.
Buen Provecho!
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