I spent the last few days of my sabbatical hanging out in Cusco eating delicious Peruvian food, buying plenty of souvenirs, and soaking up some more Incan history.
I arrived to Cusco from Machu Picchu around 9 PM, and got dropped off at my hostel, El Grial, in the San Blas neighborhood. I was dirty and exhausted, but decided to grab a quick bite next door at La Bo'M, which had delicious crepes. Then I proceeded to shower and sleep for 11 hours.
Day One
The next morning, I was in the mood for some American-style breakfast (so tired of bread and jam at this point!) so I had a delicious scramble at Jack's Cafe. From there I headed over to the San Pedro market, which is an interesting blend of local and tourist stands. They have lots of cheap food stands, as well as ones selling meats, cheeses, flowers, fresh juices and more. It's also the best place to pick up your cheap typical Peruvian souvenirs; you can get a llama sweater for $10 (which EVERY gringo in town was wearing), blankets, scarves, bags, hats, gloves...it was a bit overwhelming!
Did not bring any cheese home as a souvenir :(
The best-smelling part of the market
After exploring the market for a bit, I joined a free walking tour. It had great reviews, but I thought it was just okay. After having been in Peru for nearly 3 weeks, I already knew a lot of the info he was sharing!
We met these alpacas on our tour, aka my spirit animals who love sitting around pigging out.
A highlight of the tour was meeting two nice American girls- one from San Francisco! We all enjoyed a late lunch (linner?) together at Morena, a spot they'd heard was good- and it was! Delicious and beautiful to boot.
Causita (little Causas) and ceviche at Morena, yum!
After saying goodbye to my new friends, I decided to get a massage. There are TONS of ladies offering massage in the streets, but I opted for a place that had good reviews on Trip Advisor called Anja. A little more pricey than the random street massage, but totally worth it.
On my way there, I'd noticed a sign at the Teatro Municipal advertising a free concert that evening. I didn't have any other plans, and the timing after my massage was perfect, so I got to check out a free concert from the Cusco Symphony Orchestra!
It was one of my favorite things I did in Cusco because it was one of the few things that didn't feel made for tourists; I was one of just a couple foreigners in the audience. The symphony played some classical music, and then some traditional Peruvian songs that the audience clapped along with.
After enjoying some music, I had a small late dinner at Pachapapa, near my hostel. Turns out my Canadian friends from Machu Picchu were right up the street at La Bo'M, so I popped in to say hello/goodbye to them.
Day Two
I decided that my second day in Cusco would be my main day to pick up some gifts for my family. I headed to the Center for Traditional Textiles, which was not a great place for me to pick up gifts because it's extremely expensive ($45 for a placemat!) but was still well worth the visit. They have a small exhibit on the history of textiles in the area, and weavers demonstrating the process. I love the bright colors and intricate designs of Peruvian textiles, and this was a great place to learn a little more and see the craft in action.
Exhibit showing traditional weaving. It's incredible the beautiful designs they create.
Weavers demonstrating the process for visitors.
I headed to the Artesanal market next, which was a more budget friendly place to do my shopping. The market had pretty much the same souvenirs for sale as the San Pedro market, at the same prices, so it wasn't really worth the trip out there. I was looking for a specific style of purse for my sister, which I'd seen in the San Francisco plaza the day before. I didn't see anything that fit exactly what I was looking for for her, so ended up trekking back to the other plaza to buy it. Way too many souvenir shopping options in Cusco!
After my shopping trip, I enjoyed some delicious seafood at Barrio Ceviche, a bright and western style restaurant in the main plaza. Even though Cusco isn't near the ocean, the fish there was fresh and flavorful. Fun fact: Peruvians don't eat ceviche after 4PM, because it should be made of super fresh fish (they also probably wouldn't eat it in Cusco at all, since it's far from the sea).
I figured I should probably visit a museum or two so I could say I saw something in Cusco other than just souvenirs! So I hit up the Museu Historico Regional. It was similar in many ways to the Larco museum that I'd visited in Lima, with a nice collection of pre-Incan pottery, and some gold, silver and shell artifacts as well. It was nicely organized with good information, and there were only a couple of other people there- which I always like in a museum!
These bowls are like "ughhhh Monday"
Beautiful shell bracelet. Shells were considered more valuable than gold and silver to ancient Peruvian people.
I'd planned to hit up another museum, but on my way there it started pouring rain! I had my $1 plastic poncho, but it was raining too hard to even walk a few blocks without getting soaked. So, I ducked into Museo del Cafe for what has to be the lamest cup of tea I had in South America. It had one tiny leaf in it! But they had a fireplace, and I had a book, so it was a good place to chill out and wait for the rain to subside.
The rain drove everyone out of the main plaza and under cover, so it was a great time to grab a photo!
Maybe you should not order the tea at a coffee place.
By the time I finished my tea, the rain was starting to clear up, so I was able to walk to Museo del Pisco! I'm not sure if there actually is a museum section of the place, because I was mostly just interested in having a drink at the bar, a Pisco Spritz, yum! They also had a tapas menu that sounded good, but I was saving my appetite for dinner at Organika, a place recommended to me by the American girls.
A great place to spend time if the weather isn't so nice
Day Three
My last day in Cusco was also the final day of my sabbatical! Wahh! I spent the morning getting all my stuff packed, and somehow all my new purchases miraculously fit into my pack.
I got one last dose of Inca history at Qorikancha, which was the most important temple in the Inca empire. However, the Spanish destroyed much of it and turned it into a church, so today it's a mix of both parts of Peruvian history. I decided to "splurge" on a $10 guide to learn more, since I'd visited a lot of other Inca sites on my own. It was a really interesting place to see one of the best examples of Incan architecture; they reserved the highest quality building and stone cutting techniques for their religious sites, and the bricks are carved such that they interlock perfectly.
Incan stonework and symmetry- looking from one of the temples through to the others.
The Spanish destroyed most of the Incan walls and used the stones to build their church on top of the temple.
After the temple, I checked out a vegan restaurant called Green Point. They had a bargain $5 lunch deal that included a salad, soup, main, and dessert. It all tasted pretty good, but, as always with vegan food, I was still starving afterwards, so I also had one of their more filling smoothies.
I made one more stop by San Pedro market to buy some last souvenir gifts on my mind, and then made my FINAL FINAL stop to Incan stuff at the Museo Inka. The museum wasn't that great- it looked like it got the leftovers from the better museums, but it was an okay way to spend an hour before leaving for my flight.
The Incas didn't have a written language, but communicated important information with a system of knots like this one.
After that, it was time to say my goodbyes to Cusco...but not quite yet to Peru! I had a seven hour layover in Lima, so I stowed my bag in airport storage and took an hour-long taxi ride to Maras restaurant for a delicious dinner of grilled ceviche and pork cheeks with corn ravioli (plus a couple of pre-flight cocktails).
The best way to spend a long layover!
I returned to the airport nice and full and ready for my trip home.
So...I guess this is the unceremonious ending to my sabbatical blog! It was an unforgettable 3 months, and taking some time away from work, especially to travel, is something I'd recommend to anyone. Now I can start looking forward to my next trip!