Charming Cusco

I arrived in Kamila Lodge in Cusco shortly before midnight. If not for my hunger, I would’ve snuggled into my bed but my appetite wins. Almost all of the restaurants I passed by was closed so I was so happy that there was still a restaurant with their lights still lit-up.

I got educated in Disney popculture. I learned that Kuzco is a name of a character from The Emperor's New Groove.

I started the day late. Very late, that I missed breakfast. I drank the free tea and grabbed some of my snacks from my emergency stash. That's enough fuel to get me to the next food stop.

Now for the Cusco gameplan, I wasn't really into creating one. I was tired from the Machu Picchu the previous day and I've been travelling for a week. I decided to take it easy. While other sites in the General Touristic Ticket can be visited from Cusco, I decided to skip the temples and museums. After Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, temple burn out kicked in.

The hostel gave me a tiny map. I got a bigger map from the brochures I brought me with me from my Ecopackers Machu Picchu. I found my way to the plaza and walked around.

It was a sunny day in Cuzco but it had a winter chill. See all those people in jackets?

Peru was also colonized by Spain. The Incas were colonized from 1531 (ten years after Magellan landed in the Philippines) to 1820-something (I can't recall). That's almost three hundred years of colonial rule. The Philippines was colonized for almost 400 years. I can't help but compare how a lot of Spanish architecture was retained in Peru compared to the Spanish buildings that we have in the Philippines. Well, we have Intramuros. A fried mentioned that perhaps Spanish-inspired monuments were destroyed during World War II.

I like it that people just come to the plaza and hang out. It is really pleasant, as long as you can tolerate the weather.

Flowers in sunny winter. 

I'm quite glad that the some Spanish words are embedded in the Filipino language. Counting and telling the time in Spanish are really really helpful when you are travelling. Common words are also used: plato, kutsara, mesa, libro, tasa and a whole lot more. Not a lot of people speaking in English but I survived with my meager Spanish. I guess that's why I felt that Cusco was more Spanish than say, Granada, in Spain.

Well I can forgive the photobummer. But the photo taker did not take a full photo of the church.

There's not much to do around town, so I just walked and walked and stopped when something felt interesting to look at. 

I snuck into a street around the plaza to locate a vegetarian restaurant recommended in Tripadvisor. I found the address but it had no restaurant. It was just a residential neighborhood. Tired and hungry, I dragged myself into the opposite end to find another recommended restaurant by the hostel.

Well there's a full shot of the Cusco Cathedral.

The mountains make Cusco pretty. In Spain, Seville was also charming but Cusco can boast these mountain range.

Most likely, you'll find a Peruvian lady donning a Peruvian costume with a llama (or was that an alpaca?). If you snap a photo of her and she sees you, she will ask for money. Just like what happened to the girl there.

I was discreet and I took a photo from behind

A dog enjoying siesta

I got tired from all the walking so I went back to the guesthouse for a bit to pack my stuff. I was flying early to La Paz, Bolivia the next day. I gathered some food and food souvenirs from the supermarkets nearby and prepared my stuff. I got hungry again at dinner and strolled around the area again. With another layer of jacket. 

A badly timed shot.

The plaza was charming, even at night.

It was a cold cold night. I should've brought my warmer scarf. 

Given a second trip here, I'll allot two whole days for Cuzco. I would also visit some museums and churches, and even some of the sites included in the General Touristic Ticket in Pisac.  I was extremely impressed how the Spanish influence is still alive in the city today.