Peru #12: "Walking" Tour

*I am very sorry for the long delay in my Peru posts.  I returned three months ago - my how time flies!  There was so much that I still wanted to recount, and so many pictures that I had to sift through, that I let the overwhelmingness of it all get to me once I got back to regular life.  (And really, I think I would only say that I have been back to "regular" life for the past two weeks.  It has been one busy summer!)  I'm picking up where I left off though, and plan to have all of my wonderful memories of my month in Peru posted within the next few weeks.

Upon coming to Cusco, one of the first places that tourists visit is the Plaza de Armas.  And within 5 minutes of being here, you will likely be approached by a person (or several different people) wearing a Free Walking Tour T-shirt.  They will hand you a little advertisement for a 2.5 hour walking tour around old town.  If you have any time to spare AND are in need of a killer leg workout...DO IT!

The Plaza de Armas.

There are more than one "company" doing the walking tours.  I'm still not even certain which tour I joined in on! 

Basically, just be by the fountain in the plaza around noon and sooner or later one of the tours will begin.

After a late night and waking up at 11am, I did a 12:30pm walking tour with my Canadian roommate on Saturday during my first full weekend in Cusco.  I really didn't know what to expect, but figured we would mostly be walking around the streets that surround the Plaza de Armas and be told about the history of some of the buildings.  Most of these streets in the immediate area are flat, so the term "walking" tour seemed to make sense to me.  Boy were my assumptions wrong though!

This is our tour guide, Marco.  (Notice the dog on the grass in the background.)

 

The tour started off simple enough, with us visiting some buildings near the plaza, hearing about the history of Cusco and the Incas, and learning about Túpac Amaru, a true hero to the Peruvian people (especially those with indigenous heritage.)  Yes, it was a nice leisurely stroll around town, albeit a bit hot and sunny.  But very pleasant indeed.

The city of Cusco was originally laid out in the shape of a Puma, one of the animals that were sacred to the Incas.  (The other two main sacred animals were the snake and condor.)

The dog went on the tour with us!

I can't remember exactly, but I believe this is a memorial to Túpac Amaru.

Then we kept going past the plaza.  I figured we would be stopping again soon at one of the buildings we passed, but we just kept on going - and the only way to go was up!  My body certainly was not prepared for this.  The stone streets were really beautiful, but that was the last thing on my mind as the inclines just seemed to get steeper, and steeper, and longer!  I thought I was in good shape from my weekly hikes during the previous six months, but I guess not.  I was bringing up the rear of our group and wasn't sure if my sore legs or trouble breathing was the bigger hindrance.

Yay, a hill.

Yay, another hill!

It felt more like Hell than Purgatory.

Alas our climb up finally began to pay off as we reached the plaza in front of the beautiful San Cristobal church.  Here, there are amazing views of the entire city and surrounding mountains.  If you come to Cusco, you must check out this view for yourself!

Next, we walked quite a ways further (though not as steep) to a house near the top of the surrounding neighborhood.  The front room was a music shop, of sorts.  We were treated to an acoustic performance by one of Cusco's residents.  He is a master at building and playing traditional instruments and his goal is to keep traditional music alive by sharing his knowledge with anyone who wants to learn.

That's an armadillo.

His business card.

The rest of the "walk" wasn't intense (since we were headed down, not up), but there certainly were a lot of stairs and we covered a lot of ground.

A house under construction.

Some of the buildings are very old.

The tour ended at a restaurant in the San Blas neighborhood, where everyone was treated to a free Pisco Sour tasting.  This is a traditional Peruvian cocktail.  Having drank more than my share of Pisco Sours the night before, I only had three sips of this one.  Plus, I hadn't even eaten lunch yet!  Based on the rest of the group though, and the number of refills that were being poured, I have a feeling many people only take the walking tour for the free Pisco Sour.

As I said earlier, I'm not certain which walking tour I took, plus there are different routes they take on any given day.  So, here are some of the other sites you'll see as you walk near the plaza whether you are with a tour or strolling on your own:

The famous 12-sided stone.