Winding Down - Day 9 &10

Well folks, as the saying goes ¨All good things must come to an end¨ (though I am willing to bet my father disagrees with this philosophy) and Kyla´s trip could only last 10 days, so for the last 1.5 we enjoyed a little winding down time in Cusco at 3,300m. Above is a view of the city from the Sacsayhuaman ruins about 2miles up a hill from Cusco proper. There`s a local joke that the way to say the name of the ruins is SexyWoman. Works for me.

Day one was a Sunday and when we left our hotel (Hotel Ninos for anyone planning a trip to Cusco is a must. Great spot and funds go to help 250 kids in the Cusco city get proper day care, health care etc) we headed to the city ¨center¨ aka Plaza des Armes.

 
When we arrived we were faced with the army, swarms of people in the park, banners and flags (both of Peru and the Incas) being raised by government officials, local fire men, you name it they were lined up in front of the Cathedral which is directly across from the square-park/Plaza des Armes. We had no idea what was up, I simply assumed they had come out to say fairwell to Kyla as they had shown up in LaPaz to welcome her, but I was wrong, imagine. We later learned that this is standard Sunday activity. Takes going to church on Sundays to an entirely new level. We watched the scene from the first Starbucks I have seen in 9wks and then determined that since we had to wait until 2pm to see the Cathedral we might as well have some Sushi...as one does in Peru. Here´s the view of the Plaza des Armes from the restaurant.


Since neither Kyla, nor I are religious in any way, we wandered the Cathedral without a guide but marveled all the same at the architecture and restoration efforts that have taken place over the years thanks to many an earthquake.

We also learned that the Cathedral was build using some of the stones from the Sacsayhuaman ruins. Tough blow to the Incas who took the time to build their city only to have it pulled apart to build a Catholic Cathedral, but hey that´s the way of the world I suppose.



Next stop was to see the Sacsayhuaman ruins themselves since we were told they were worth the trip. We were pretty ¨Ruined Out¨ to tell you the honest truth (is there another kind) so we walked around a while admiring the ingenuity of the Inca people. They really knew how to build a wall. Notice the interlocking stones that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle making them incredibly strong? They also build the walls with a 13degree incline and with smaller stones at the bottom to absorb the movement of the earth I was told (but it does not seem to be the case here). After 30 minutes we just strolled over to the central lawn and lay down in the grass and closed our eyes. Taking a little while to reflect on where we were, and our last 9 days together. Honestly, we also just wanted to catch our breath after so much adventure and enjoy the sunshine. It really has been quite the week+.




In the distance I could see a huge Jesus on a hill overlooking all of Cusco and couldn´t resist the opportunity to mock up our own little Rio de Janeiro photo-shoot. I think we did pretty well, but you be your own silent judge.





That about wraps up the Adventures of B and b in South America. Kyla boarded her plane from Cusco bound for Lima after lunch on Monday April 2nd and has since arrived home safe & sound after 18hrs of travel. I will admit I cried when she closed the door of the cab and can only say I already loved my sister as much as a person could, before she arrived, or else I would love her even more now for stepping out of her busy life & comfort zone to trust me enough to travel Bolivia & Peru over the last 10 days. You´re my hero B. Please give those 4 little monsters a hug and kiss from their Aunt b. Thank you C and all the friends/neighbours and family who pitched in to make this adventure possible. I will never forget it and I am pretty damn sure B feels the same way.

I have moved back into the hostel world, sharing an 8 bed dorm and walking down an open air hallway to get to the ladies bathrooms to shower or brush my teeth. Privacy is once more lost. Last night it rained/hailed in Cusco for over 3hrs and with that I booked a flight to Lima for Wednesday. Looking forward to being at sea-level once again and to some warm weather with maybe even a beach in my near future.

Here´s hoping you are all well, happy and healthy.

xox
b