Getting to know Cuzco

Day 2 in Cuzco

It was cold and rainy in Cuzco today so we opted for indoor activities. We gave our laundry in to be washed at a laundry service.(A rainy day is probably not the ideal washing day. I hope our clothes won’t shrink from too much tumble-drying.) There are many places who do laundry here.

According to our research, if you want to see the main tourist attractions in the area you have to buy the Boleto Turistico del Cusco (Cuzco’s tourist ticket) which gives you access to many of the museums and archeological sites. A good website for more info on the ticket and what it includes is http://www.cusco-peru.info/cusco_tourist_ticket.htm.

So we bought two of these Boleto Turisticos. We have used them thus far to enter the local history museum (Museo Historico Regional) and the Museum of Contemporary Art. None of those museums really ‘blew me away’ but they were okay. They focused mainly on Spanish beliefs and history.

One of the free museums we discovered, Banco de la Nacion, fascinated me the most. It had some artworks made entirely of bones! It looked like chicken bones, rodent bones and sheep bones forming amazing 3D sculptures.

We found the narrow street, Hutunrumiyoc, which is famous for its Inca walls. The Incas used huge stones precisely carved to fit together without any mud or concrete. Nobody is quite sure how the Incas did this. The wall is really strong and has endured a few earthquakes.

I think you could easily get overwhelmed by Cuzco’s history and all the Inca legends. It is definitely very interesting but we don’t want to get Inca-burnout-syndrome.

We visited the chocolate museum (Choco Museo). This museum also has free entry and you get to sample some of their products. The museum confirmed that chocolate is very good for you.

We also spoilt ourselves tonight with an hour long full body massage for 25 soles per person.