Peru 2015/16 - Cusco - Martes - Free Walking Tour (FWT) and Chris and Jason arrive.

The best news for today is that my luggage finally arrived. I hugged the hotel receptionist when she told me it was in my room and later I went to to the G-Adventures office and hugged Robinson. What a relief and so nice to have G-Adventures take care of it for me.

Oh Happy Day!

I took the Free Walking Tour (FWT) of Cusco today. Started in Plaza Regocija (also known as the Place of Happiness in Quechua, the Inca language) at 10:30 and our first stop was the coffee museum where we were told how coffee was grown, harvested and roasted in Peru.

I didn't try the free sample (had enough coffee with breakfast) but was told it was excellent. From there we walked into Plaza Des Armas where our guide talked about the name (it was where the Incas gathered their weapons for the, failed, revolt against the Spanish) it is also know as the Place of Crying in the Quechua language as it is where the Inca hero of the revolution was killed by the Spanish.
The two churches that border the Plaza and the other 12 catholic churches in the city are all built on the foundations of Inca Temples as Cusco was the religious capital for the Incas. Next we walked around the central area while she showed us how to differentiate Inca architecture from Inca imperial architecture and Colonial architecture.

This is an example of Inca Imperial Architecture

 The Inca Imperial was utilized by a specific Inca era when many of the religious and government buildings were completed. It has straight lines, standard stone sizes, trapeziodal shaped stones and uses no mortar.

Colonial - uneven stones, lots of mortar

Inca - huge stones, multi-faceted, no mortar.

We were taken into a handicraft area where Inca music was demonstrated by a couple of musicians dressed as Incas. Opportunities for photos for a tip. I took a picture of the modern kick pedal he was using for his base drum. I thought Mike would be amused, the Inca guy was a little puzzled by this but happy with the tip.

Inca actors. The music was haunting and beautiful. Drums, horns, pipes.

Dried llama or alpaca hooves used as a rattle.

There were also 5 camelids there and the differences between Llama and Alpaca were explained. Again opportunities for photos for a tip.

The nearest one is a llama the other 4 are alpacas

Llamas have a longer neck and can be more than one colour.

Anther photo taken for Mike, they are nicknamed Rasta due to their dreadlock like coats.

 Next stop was an Inca ruin that was discovered after the last earthquake destroyed the Spanish built plaster walls, leaving the Inca foundation and some walls. The Incas built in such a way that their buildings could survive earthquakes.

I didn't pay to go in as I could see none of my addiction, information boards.

 Our guide told us that the origional Inca came from the Lake Titikaka region where they were expert hydraulic engineers. They migrated to the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, which was more fertile and formed an aliance with the warrior tribe living there. This amalgamation became the civilization we know as Inca  who were both engineers and warriors.
Lastly we went into a Ceviche restaurant and were taught how to make Ceviche and had the opportunity to try some. Fresh white fish, lime, coriander, sweet chili pepper, red onion. Mix for 4 minutes and its done. Served with corn and sweet potato cooked in sugar and orange juice. It was delicious.
The Inca started the development of different varieties of corn and potato and now Peru has 90 varieties of corn and 200 of potato.

This was a 3 hour walking tour and we each paid what we felt was fair. It was varied and often interesting  however short on historic information. The guide repeated herself so many times I wondered if she didn't have enough knowledge to fill the time or thought that we weren't paying attention. There was also the sense that part of how the tour was funded was through taking the group to places where they would spend money then or later. Chris tells me that free walking tours in other parts of the world don't seem to operate that way.
It started to rain as I headed home so I popped into a restaurant for a huge bowl of Sopa de Mais Crema and then returned to the hotel to meet Chris and Jason. They had just got in and were pretty tired and hungry. We stopped at a little hole in the wall place and they each got a bowl of chicken, vegetable and barley soup and a plate of rice, chicken and fried plantain for 10 sol, $2.50 each! Next we shopped.

Fruit and vegetables at the market, cereal, meat, milk at the supermercado.

 Back to their Airbnb apartment. It is a charming little spot with everything they need; a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living/dining room and very well equipped. It is literally half a block from the market, about 3 blocks from the main square. They are staying there for 2 nights before moving to y hotel for the start of the tour.

Ceviche recipe on the wall at their apartment.

 We discussed the next few days itinerary and went to G Adventures to book a horseback riding trip for tomorrow. Cooked supper, ate and then I left them to get some sleep. The internet was so slow I couldn't load up a single picture. It was better today, so posted a day late.