A Journey Through Peru :: Exploring the Ruins Above Cusco
Peru is one of my favorite countries. It is full of surprises, from landscapes where the jungle meets the mountains, to the abundance of traditional agriculture practices still being used, to the number of people still speaking the Quechua language rather than Spanish. While studying abroad in Chile, I took a month off from classes to journey through Peru, soon wishing that I had found a study abroad program in Cusco. I traveled from Lima, to Cusco, to the Sacred Valley, through the jungle to Machu Picchu, to Puno, to Lake Titicaca and the islands, to Tacna, and finally ending my journey by crossing the border back into Chile through Arica.
After spending a couple of days in Lima, we flew to Cusco. Cusco is the "continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city" (Lonely Planet). We stayed at Hospedaje Turistico Recoleta, which was a wonderful hostel - quiet, clean, and spacious.
On our second day in Cusco we took a bus up to the ruins above the city. We stopped at Sacsayhuaman a local man asked us if we wanted to go on a horseback riding trip. I grew up riding horses but hadn't had a chance to ride for a while so I was stoked.
We spent a couple of hours riding through the hills above Cusco. The terrain reminded me of the Northern Californian hills that I grew up with, full of eucalyptus and pine trees and rolling grassy hills.
We rode to ruins called the Temple of the Moon. These ruins are off the beaten track and much less visited than the other ruins around the city. It is a rocky hill that contains two caves with alters and carvings.
No Peruvian horseback riding trip would be complete without some alpaca views.
After the horseback riding adventure, we started to explore Sacsayhuaman. Sacsayhuaman is a fortress/temple built around 1450 CE. The fortress is made up of incredible stones, some being more than 9 meters tall and weighing 125 tons.
Over 20,000 people worked on building Sacsayhuaman, and it is the largest structure that the Incans built. It contains temples where Incans most likely held ceremonies.
After spending some time exploring the ruins, we took the walking path from Sacsayhuaman back to Cusco. On our way down we came across a little restaurant with an incredible veggie menu. There was outdoor seating with an overflowing kitchen herb garden.
We enjoyed our meal and then wandered down the street and stumbled across a traditional medicine museum which I highly recommend. We learned a lot about the native herbs of the area and were able to buy some herbs to take home (like maca and noni). The woman who owned the museum also offers cacao ceremonies.
Have a nice Day dear, That was an Amazing Journey, Regard from Aceh sumatra :)
My wife wants to visit Peru, however, the trip takes more than 20 hours, so we can't all decide on this tour. Thank you for this wonderful journey in such an authentic country! :)
did you try any of their traditional food? what is the most famous traditional dish over there ?
wow!one one photography and travel..thanks..
You are one lucky lady to have done a nice adventure.. Peru is in my bucket list and I'm wishing I could go there visit someday. Thanks for sharing your lovely images and story.
Nice post. The menu is making me hungry! Thanks for sharing
Nice post! I really want to go to Peru someday! 😃
Thank you for this great posts, it reminds me of my travels to Cuzco! I think we have actually been to the same museum :D
Here's a photo I took at Sacsayhuaman (funny how they actually pronounce it like "sexy woman"):
I tried to find a place at a university in South America, but it turns out that my uni in Germany has partner universities all over Asia, but none in South America so it will be some years until I will be able to return to this amazing continent. Enjoy your time in South America!