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How much Inca is too much Inca?

From Around the Americas in 90 Days in Cusco, Peru on Oct 04 '07

Nathan & Emma has visited no places in Cusco
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Which saint?
Which saint?
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Clearly we haven't had enough Inca, as we find ourselves back in the capital of the Incan Empire.

Technically, this was our second stay in Cusco, as we spent one day here before going on the Inca Trail. Most of our first day was spent in the Plaza de Armas watching a parade for something, although we still don't exactly know what it was about (despite the best efforts of two local ladies sitting next to us who tried to explain it to us and ended up arguing over which saint it related to). All we know is that it included a strange mix of children, soldiers complete with bayonets, marching bands, unions of various professions, and men dressed up in weird masks dancing around with bottles of beer, one of whom tried to attack me while taking a photo. It gave us a great sense of how proud the cusquenas are in their city though.

They love a good parade!
They love a good parade!
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The whole city of Cusco is built on the remains of the Inca city, so you can still see Inca stonework in the foundations of the buildings. There is a famous 12 sided stone in one of these foundations, and if you're quick enough you can get a photo of it without being approached by one of the local kids who spend the whole day hanging out in the alley opposite the stone trying to get tips from the tourists for pointing it out.

Speaking of street urchins, we stumbled across probably some of the most persistent, inventive and entertaining ones yet in Cusco. They surrounded us on our way to dinner after getting back from Machu Picchu, trying to sell us lollies. At the age of about eight or nine, their English was excellent, and they knew all kinds of random facts about Australia including the name of our Prime Minister. After escaping them to go to dinner, they were waiting for us at midnight, and nearly walked us all the way back to our hostal!!

Save me!!
Save me!!
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We saw the famous Last Supper painting in the Catedral, which features the cuy (guinea pig) as the main dish, and I almost got to try it myself in this great little Peruvian-Australian restaurant we all went to on our last night. Unfortunately the cuy was sold out! So I had to content myself with excellent, 10/10 alpaca instead.


Baron von Shazman avatar Baron von Shazman on Oct. 9, 2007 @ 09:30AM said
Ha ha! I can't believe that you managed to find the Incan equivalent of Reachy!! :)

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