Cusco

Cusco - June 13 - 16 and back for one day before heading back to Lima.

Cusco was lovely. We had found a cute little hotel that was an old converted house with a beautiful inner patio with flowers and a view at night time of the Cristo Blanco and the cross up on the hills. It was just 3 blocks from the Plaza de Armas, and close to all the museums, an old Incan aqueduct and impressive Incan walls with figures of the condor, puma, and serpent. 

Matt deemed the best Pisco Sour ever at La Orgánica just down the street, and we found an amazing little local picada, with a feisty little grandma cooking who scared Matt. The restaurant had no name, and they closed for lunch when they ran out of food. they had the best lamb ribs and chicken soup. 

Louis got pretty bad altitude sickness. It took him 2 days to adjust. We were still able to make it up to the planetarium, and learned about the dark constelations of the incans. It is the dark spaces in the Milky Way, and they see llamas, a bird, a frog, and a little shepherd with a sling shot. 

We also made it over to Ollantaytambo and did a very short hike (all the kids could handle at this altitude) with llamas.  The guides showed us how they pack the llamas, and then we herdded them up the hill. They were calm, and much like sheep in their movements. They put bells on 2 of the main males, and they didn’t wander far, never wanting to be left behind. We had a meal of potatoes and fava beans, and Andean corn, baked under rocks in a fire pit. 

Funny story, we tend to not pay too much attention to festivals and timing our trips that way. We are more practical travelers. In Mexico when Matt studied Spanish in Oaxaca for a month we went in November. Our flight back out of Mexico City was the day before the big celebration of la Virgen de Guadalupe.

Turns out in Cusco, one of their biggest celebrations is the Inti Raymi festival, or festival of the sun. The winter solstice is on June 21st here, but the Incas believed the sun stayed in the same spot for 3 days, hence the culmination of the celebration on the 24th. 

For the 3 weeks before the big celebration there is dancing competitions for all ages and parades every day in the main plaza. The costumes were so colorful, and the 8 yo dancers especially energetic. On our last day in Cusco we saw huge papier-mache pieces of art set up to go on parade. 

The interesting thing is that here in Peru you really have 3 very different cultures and regions. The coastal, the Andean mountain or Cordillera, and the Amazonian. 

The 24th was a Monday and the kids were scheduled to start school that day on the coast in Lima. While the Limeños connect to the Andean culture and the Incan roots, and while many people here have imigrated from the mountain regions in search of jobs, it was not the same. At their school on Monday they celebrated el día del campesino, and some kids dressed up with clothes from the Andes. But it was not a big celebration  

Here in Lima they are now revving up for their big celebration of Independence Day on July 28th. Starting July 1st, Peruvian flags start to go up, teachers and kids wear escarapelas (a ribbon in red and white) and there are more circuses and events in Lima this month. The kids get 2-3 weeks off from school and it is like their holiday break in the middle of the school year for them similar to our Christmas break.