Day 11: Cusco
Having no concrete plans for our first full day in Cusco, we happily slept in for the first time on this trip. However, we did rise in time for the breakfast buffet (ending around 10:30am). Our traditional Belmond breakfast is fresh fruits, colorful pastries, and eggs Benedict (plus cappuccinos, obviously). Just for the fun of it, there was also a barista sampling different regional coffees and bottling fresh cold brews to go. Whatever we decide to do today, we’re gonna be awake for it.
Coffee time!
Fully amped up, we gathered our things and ventured out the Monasterio’s giant wooden doors to walk around the city. The hotel is located in the Historic District, just a couple blocks to the east of the Plaza de Armas — which appears to be the epicenter of all Cusco’s pre-Inti Raymi festivities. A large grandstand near the cathedral featured booming speakers and a PA announcer shouting excitedly as a constant parade of groups, bands, and dancers passed by the dignitaries and the rest of the crowds lined up along the streets.
24×7 party here in the Plaza de Armas
Following the source of the parade to the south, we exited the Plaza de Armas and turned left onto the Avenue El Sol, where the endless line of parade participants continued. On this jam-packed street, everybody was getting organized, warming up, and preparing for their big turn into the Plaza. Each group was hundreds of people strong, decked-out in their team colors and festive outfits.
Getting in formation
Warm up the shells
After successfully navigating the crowds and moving at least two or three blocks away from the Plaza, we ducked off the main street and took a couple smaller alleys to reach our primary location of interest for the day — the Coricancha.
El Sabor del Perú!
The Coricancha was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, located at the epicenter of the Tawantinsuyu (which is the more correct Incan terminology to describe their realm, aka. “The Four Regions Together”). Three real quick facts… (1) The temple was dedicated to the Sun God (Inti); (2) Gold was the top interior design preference; and (3) Eventually the Spanish showed up and plopped their Church and Convent of Santo Domingo right on top of it. Rude. And that was after they stole all the gold. Anyways…
Coricancha and Church of Santo Domingo mashup
Coricancha courtyard with symbolic Incan landspacing
We found the entrance and were quite pleased to learn the Coricancha/Convent was open for visitors today (including Nan and Britt, whom we ran into as they were leaving, right outside the gate). After purchasing our tickets and entering the museum, we found plenty of interesting stuff and spent the next couple hours taking it all in — including Incan art, modern art, textile displays, archeological restorations in progress, a wide variety of ornate wooden doors, and even a bell tower to climb.
Santo Domingo Courtyard
Bell tower
View of Coricancha from Bell Tower
Staff putting Inti Raymi props into place for tomorrow
Inti-Inti stare down
One particular item Matt wanted to see in the Coricancha was a modern art piece by Miguel Araoz Cartagena depicting the Seqe System of Cusco. The Seqe System was a series of imaginary lines (“seqe” means line in Quechua) that radiated out from Cusco and “connected” various important shrines, temples or objects called wakas. Think Incan Trip Advisor with 41 different itineraries to check out 328 cool things to do around the empire!
Aside from the fact the painting is cool, the main reason Matt wanted to see this piece is because it’s also the cover art for the “A History of the Inca” podcast by Nick Machinski — which Matt listened to in full prior to the trip. If you are considering a trip to Peru, do yourself a favor and give this excellent podcast a listen as well!
Thanks Nick! Your podcast was awesome!
After our quite enjoyable visit to the Coricancha, we ventured back out to festive streets of Cusco. Jo was on the hunt for an alpaca shawl, with fridge magnets and Christmas ornaments on the shopping list as well. One store took care of the magnets, ornaments, and even a pair of Machu Picchu wool socks for Matt. We also were looking for a Cusco flag (which was surprisingly hard to find). There were lots of little paper flags along the parade route, but even those were elusive.
IMPORTANT! We did find the Chocolate
We continued to walk up and down the streets, shopping and parade-watching. The folks representing the wheat and quinoa farmers team looked like they were having the most fun with their giant wheat hats and quinoa-inspired dance routines.
The Quinoa Shuffle
New Kentucky Derby hats just dropped
Navigating side streets to get around the parade crowds, we eventually found and negotiated for the perfect shawl, as well as a Cusco flag. Mission(s) accomplished. Then we crossed thru the Plaza de Armas to get a closer look at the ceremonial props for tomorrow’s Inti Raymi Festival. It appears Inti is currently shrouded in a Cusco flag until the big reveal.
Band needs a breather
Plaza props are ready for tomorrow
Plaza de Armas parade entering 300th hour (probably)
We considered going to the nearby Inca Museum next, but we stopped by the hotel to recharge (ourselves and our phones) first. It was about 3:45PM when we were looking up information on the Inca Museum to see if it would be worth going, only to find out it closes at 4PM. Well then! That makes our decision easy — hotel pool it is!
Back to the peaceful Monasterio courtyard
All hotel rooms should be double-level rooms!
Technically, the Monastario does not have a pool, but their sister hotel right next door does. The concierge said they needed to call over to make sure there was availability — and there was. When we arrived, we realized they had ALL the availability — we were the only ones there, lol. We forget that people here think it’s cold this time of year (about 70 degrees). But it’s darn-near perfect.
Available to pool
The Monastario offers a free art tour every day at 5:30PM. We quickly changed into some art tour-worthy clothes, grabbed some beverages from the minibar, and joined the fun. Our guide talked about the original paintings along the walls of the hotel from the monastery days, primarily in the Colonial Renaissance style. She noted that Europe was probably sending over mostly JV-level painters to support the cause, so the technical expertise wouldn’t be quite the same as your traditional European Renaissance works (ie. body proportions and lighting effects are sometimes wonky). But what these artists lacked in skill, they made up for in superb messaging to convince the Incans to adopt Christianity. (Hey Incans, you like family? We do too! Here’s a bunch of paintings depicting the Virgin Mary’s parents! You know, Mary’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. ummmm… Anyways, Christianity!)
Weath of knowledge on Monasterio art collection
Classy art tour attendee
We ended the tour in the Chapel of San Antonio Abad to observe the architecture (walls are original, roof is not) and the additional art pieces. Nearly every painting in the chapel featured a cherub in the corner with a mirror (representing justice). But more importantly, each cherub has also been given a wild “staring-into-the-camera” expression. Like, “Get a load of this angel!”, or “Can you believe what this saint just said to that demon?!?”
We worked up an appetite during the art tour, but rather than searching for a sit-down dinner place, we opted to find a nearby pizza place that would let us order takeout. The place we found had a Cubs game on TV and we chatted with some other similar-aged travelers who raved about the benefits of being international teachers. We returned to our awesome hotel room and enjoyed our fantastic pizza and minibar dinner.
Easier to watch the Cubs in Cusco than Chicago
Tomorrow, we Inti Raymi!!!
