September 11: Exploring Cuzco

Word of the day: gaseosa (Peru)- soda

After throwing our stuff in the hostel and dining on pollo a la brasa, richly flavorful coal cooked chicken, we went to wander around Cuzco for a while. It was an absolutely wonderful and unique city. Although it is one of the largest in Peru, it's fairly small, especially to explore the areas that are touristy. We visited the Plaza de Armas first and the surroundings, filled with gorgeous Spanish churches set against a backdrop of terracotta rooftops, bronze colored hills and blue skies. We also got to see Santo Domingo, a gorgeous Spanish church built on top of Incan ruins. The contrast between the simplicity of the houses and the detailed churches was really neat, as well as the contrast between the tourists and the high presence of indigenous culture. Walking in Cuzco is hilly though, which was interesting with the altitude adjustments, since it was over a mile high.

Although I love traveling with friends, being with our giant group of 11 was trying sometimes. As one of us said, it was just the size of the group, nothing to do with the people. A classic example of this was trying to get dinner. We went at a crowded hour and couldn't find anywhere with enough seats. Fed up and with low blood sugar, my friend Regina and I peeled off from the group to find something quickly. We ended up finding a 3 course menú (set meal) for $2.50. We were worried we would get sick because the food was so cheap, but there were other gringos, so we figured we'd be ok. We weren't sure what kind of meat they served us because it didn't have a texture like any of the usual suspects, but it was still good. Since we were leaving early in morning and exhausted, we retired early, although not before a lot of money arrangements to pay for things. So much math on this trip, with learning a new currency.
Example of the kind of thinking that went on a lot:
-Peruvian money is based on the 1 sol unit, but this is about 1/3 of a $1 US, so there was a lot of mental dividing by 3.
-Chilean money is based in $1000 units, known as a luca, but each of these is worth $2 US, so there was all that to forget.
-Then, there was the problem of some things being cheaper if you paid in certain currencies, plus the changing exchange rates- basically just tons of math.