Viva El Peru!

Peru was so much fun! I'm pretty sure I ate twice as much there than I did in Chile and I ate a lot in Chile! In Peru, we spent two days in Cusco and I only got to spend one day in Lima. So most of the sights I got to see were in Cusco. We originally stopped in Cusco to get to the infamous Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, the Peruvian government has restricted access into Machu Picchu to 400 visitors a day. The wait list for both days we were there was 800+. I guess that's what we get for going during the busy season. I'm not going to lie, a little piece of my soul was crushed when we found out that we couldn't go. Machu Picchu was what I was looking forward to the most! Well, I have a good excuse to come back!
We had a problem with some of the people in our group getting altitude sickness since Cusco is located at an elevation of 11,000 feet. Me, Billy, and Robbie were fine. The hotel we stayed at had oxygen masks and tanks to help deal with tourists altitude sickness. So while people were being sick, we went to see the sights!
Our first stop was to see the Templo de Santa Domingo. Santa Domingo is a convent that was built over an Incan temple dedicated to their Sun God. So Santa Domingo has a combination of both Spaniard and Incan architecture.

The front of Santa Domingo

The back of Santa Domingo. You can see the terraces which were leftover from the original temple.

Our next stop was Sacsayhuaman. Sacsayhuaman is thought to be the temple to the Incan god of lightening and is said to be in the shape of a puma. It was cool! It was used as a fortress when the Spaniards attacked Cusco. It would be easily defensible with the three walled terraces.

The three terraces. Each wall is about 2.5 of me!

A view of Cusco from Sacsayhuaman.

Actually, one of the coolest things we got to see in Cusco was just up the hill from Sacsayhuaman. It was the Cristo Blanco, which is a large statue of Christ like in Rio de Janeiro. It was huge! Our best view of the city was by the statue and it allowed us to see the Viva El Peru that was on the mountainside across from us.

You can see the Christ statue from the top of Sacsayhuaman.

Cristo Blanco.

The view from up by the Christ Statue.

We were able to zoom in on the Viva El Peru from the Christ statue.

We ate so well in Peru. All of the team leaders stayed in a separate hotel from the others in our group. We stayed in this awesome B&B/hostel that is ran by the nicest lady. She always had food ready for us to eat and she packed us lunches both days we were there! She was so nice! She even was kind enough to write some of her recipes down for me before I left. She spoke English very well so she had already translated them for me! When I go back to Cusco, I'm going to stay at her B&B again. She feed us the best Peruvian food I've ever eaten! Not to mention, she always had a cold Inca Kola for me when I saw her since she conducted all business from the kitchen.

Guiso de Pollo y Papa or Chicken Potato Stew.

Tallarines Verdes Con bistec apanado.

Uchucuta which is the Andean version of hot sauce. The white chunks are fresh cheese! I ate this with everything, it was so good!

We had a lot more different things but I didn't take pictures. My favorite food in Peru had to be the Lomo Saltado and the Uchucuta. And I'm pretty sure that I drank a ton of Inca Kola. I always had one in my hand or in my bag. I guess I have Cody Fowers to thank for that addiction. I also tried the frozen limonada (it's a limeade not a lemonade) when Billy decided it was time to try a famous Pisco Sour. He was not a happy camper the next morning. Apparently, Pisco Sour hangovers are worse than regular hangovers. Who knew?
We also got to see part of the Sacred Valley of the Incas while we were there. I have to say that the Andes Mountains kind of put the Rockies to shame.

Some terraces in the Sacred Valley.

A view up the Sacred Valley.

I was really sad to leave Cusco. I had a ton of fun there even though we didn't get to go to Machu Picchu. Lima was really uneventful for me since all I did was install a water purification system. But I did get to see the Lima temple. I caused Billy to stop the same way I had him stop in Santiago. He wasn't happy with me. Oh well! I got to see the Lima temple!

The Lima Temple.

Peru was super fun and I'm hoping that I get to go back soon! Until next time, Peru. Until next time.