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Day 4
My flight back to LAX was not until 8pm so I had plenty of time to kill. But I was still up and out by 8am since I wanted to hit another very interesting site that is just outside the city of Cusco.
First stop on the list was the San Pedro Market. The city was already alive with tourists at this time, probably being a Sunday and Church-goers getting to mass. I had to cross the main square to get to the market and I noticed that they were setting up for some kind of a parade. The military/army was out there in their colors. I kept walking to the market and the streets were bustling with activity. The market was a collection of smaller stores all lined up next to each other; selling stuff from clothes; to souvenirs; to cooked food, fruits, meat, cheese, nuts, grains; etc. There were separate sections for each item within one single roof. My fellow hiker from the last 2 days suggested I look for some cheaper alpaca sweaters here and haggle also. Not my forte but I was able to get a 40 sole sweater down to 25 sole... so success in my books. I did not buy anything else there, so after 20 minutes I walked back to the hotel to checkout and dropped off my backpack at the concierge's desk.
Back out and on my way to the other site I wanted to check-out - Sacsayhuamán. The site is at an altitude of 12,150 ft and is older than the city of Machu Picchu itself. From the main square its all uphill through a narrow street with plenty of stairs. Once you get to the entrance of the site you need to buy a ticket to get in. 70 sole is quite expensive and I am not going to say its worth it, but I was there now. Another few minutes of walking uphill and the first things you will notice is that the walls are of perfectly laid rocks. Apparently this was a fortress to defend the capital of the Inca Empire - Cusco. But the site was not originally built by the Inca's; rather it was built a lot earlier... probably even as old as 900 AD. The walls run from one end to the other and the best way to take in the size is to climb up the steps on the opposite side of the huge courtyard in the middle.
The outskirts of the city have grown around this site to the extent that in some locations they might as well have been sharing a wall. That is how well the history of Peru has meshed into the modern culture, both religiously and architecturally. The way down back to the main square was quick.
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Headed straight to the Museo del Cafe (Choco Museo) where there was a short demonstration of how the cocoa from the plant is converted into the tasty creamy chocolate liquid and then into bars. The whole process from start to finish is behind a glass wall. They also show you how they make white, milk and dark chocolate. The place also offers a session where you can take the base chocolate and mix it up with all the different ingredients
you want and they freeze it and now you have your own customized chocolate bar. There is plenty chocolate jams, butter, spreads, bars, fruits, alcohol, liquids, etc. if you want to taste or buy in the store.
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The parade at the main square was coming to an end. It was a parade of emergency vehicles, military, children and other groups. I was there just in time to look at all the citizens in their traditional outfit. They were mostly blue, but all of them had a lot of detailed embroidery work.
After some loitering around I stopped by the "Pure Alpaca" store to buy an authentic alpaca wool sweater. There was a 50% sale running so I think the 150 sole was well worth the cost. Then went straight back to the hotel to rest up for a bit and for my final Pisco Sour (it has egg white in it) of the trip.
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This time the cab to the airport was 20 sole!! 2 layovers (Lima and Panama City) and I was back home in Los Angeles.
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What an amazing last minute trip. I was glad to have jumped on that and made the decision to go.
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