We spent several days exploring cathedrals, bascillicas, monasteries, museums, ancient ruins and plazas--which were all breathtaking. Though I'm not the religious type, I'm a sucker for old churches and their wonderfully intricate details. Give me stained glass windows, hand carved pulpits that stand 80 feet high and flying buttresses and I'm in hog heaven. Dave was quite thrilled, too, when we stumbled upon the Central Bank Museum, filled with pieces of old currency and other artifacts. The best thing we did in Lima, however, was when we ventured down to the district of Miraflores, where we took a Peruvian cooking class--complete with 3 courses of traditional Peruvian cuisine. This has been one of our favorite activites to date, as we both love to cook (and eat). Miraflores itself was a really neat district. Though a bit far away from downtown Lima, the amount of development there--not to mention the coastline--made it well worth it. It was great to see how the city was working to not only boost tourism, but also make the Lima a better place to live for its many inhabitants.
A slight bout with a stomach bug for me kept us from doing everything we wanted to do in Lima--must have been too many of my beloved Peruvian empanadas. Today was the first day that I woke up and actually felt HUNGRY. Only eating crackers and white rice for the last few days has been quite tragic, as Dave and I both think one of the best ways to experience a country is to eat your way through it.
We are currently in Cusco, whose sunshine and blue skies are a far cry from the gloom of Lima. Though we loved Lima, it's nice to get a little Vitamin D. Cusco is absolutely gorgeous. It's nestled in the mountains and, being much less developed than Lima, we are experiencing a bit more of "traditional" Peru. And by traditional I mean: cobblestone streets, Alpacas, guinea pig on every freaking menu, etc etc. Also, there are still people who hitch their donkeys (with packs, mind you) to poles while they go in the bar to have a drink. True story, we saw it last night. Cusco is celebrating its anniversary, so there is a festival with parades, dancing and music all week. The costumes and whatnot are amazing..pretty sure we both know the national anthem by heart now, too.
The only thing we haven't liked about Cusco so far is the cold. And by cold, I really mean the igloo temperatures in our hostal. Our hostal is fantastic-but FREEZING. Somehow we ended up with twin beds--unfortunate--but we tried sharing last night for the sake of body heat. It was actually quite toasty, but after about an hour of Dave's arse nudging me off the bed, I moved to the other. Big mistake. I woke up and literally thought there might be icicles dangling from my appendages. Thus, I have a new theory: warmth > space.
We have a few more ruins and the Sacred Valley to explore before we head off on our Salkantay trekking excurion Thursday. We are pretty dang excited about the hike, as we'll get 4 days of mountain air and spectacular views before we hit the grand finale of the trek--Machu Picchu. So long for now...
Cheers, SK
