26th March
Cusco was founded in the 12th Century by the Incas. We were given the Boleto Turistico which gets us into the major sites around town.
Walked around streets of Cusco. The Plaza de Armas is beautiful and the streets show architecture from the Incas and Colonial times. La Cathedral built in 1559 is Cuscos main church and built from large red slabs of granite. La Compania de Jesus - this church foundations are built from palace of Huayna Capac, the last Inca to rule. It has an incredible baroque facade and is very ornate. The inca walls have closely fitted stones and on Hatunrumiyoc Street was the 12 sided stone and there was an Incan warrior dressed up that you could have photos taken with for a few sols. Originally these walls were lined with 700 gold sheets each weighing about 2 kgs. There were lots of quaint art galleries and market stalls. We went to the local market and saw some unusual produce, live frogs, you picked the ones you wanted and the woman skinned them for you. We walked along "Gringo Alley" which is where the bars, restaurants, cages and souvenir shops are. We went to the Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Moon and Temple of the Stars and the museum beneath.