Sacsayhuaman was the next stop and it was huge. As we got out of the car we grabbed the sunscreen and hats to try to not be stupider than we were at our first stop. It was a walk of about a half mile through a fortress city with stones the size of cars and trucks stacked into walls that are incredible today and must have been even more so before they were scavenged for construction material by the Spanish.
Being day one at elevation Dusty passed on climbing the 20 stories to the top. After Juan Carlos and I ascended the first fifty feet of switchback stone steps my pounding heart and light head had me feeling like when I climbed Mount Whitney twenty years ago. I did a quick check on my heart using my Apple Watch and found no signs of Afib, but a heart rate of 118. Now as then common sense outweighed macho and I elected to rest a bit and return to Dusty alive and well.
We drove down into Cusco to see the central square and I was floored by the cathedral and architecture surrounding a fountain with an Inca statue atop it surrounded by happy crowds and flowers and trees. I put off taking all the photos that I was tempted to take and we went in to Inka Grill for lunch.
We settled into the Peruvian pace and spent over an hour chatting and enjoying different, beautiful, and excellent food. And coca tea to take the edge off the altitude impact on a Florida body.
When the check came I left payment and begged my leave to take a quick lap around the square to go photo tourist stupid and meet them in the square. The light was good and I noticed constantly changing. Got a bunch of good stuff and met Dusty and Juan Carlos for a walk through the Cathedral of Peru.
I have been in quite a few cathedrals in my life with varying levels of Catholic awe inspiring architecture, art, and shows of wealth. This had all of those with an interesting twist of New World Inca touches. Things like the Last Supper with local delicacies including corn, potatoes, and roasted Guinea pig. And several crucifixes where Jesus is wearing an Inca article of clothing.
All this time our guide had been checking on his phone to see if we could get through the twenty miles or so to our lodge for the night. Finally it was a go and our driver picked us up for the winding way to Sol y Luna (Sun and Moon) hotel.
After the bags were out of the van Dusty realized we had not refilled our water bottles with drinkable water, so I went back to find my backpack with the bottles, toiletries, and medications was still in the back of the parked van. Glad we checked because we were scheduled to have a new driver tomorrow. Things can and will go wrong when you are traveling. Best to double check.
The Sol y Luna informed us that we would not have the premium room reserved. We were seriously upgraded to our own little casita. With a fireplace, back porch, and oversized bath. We arrived as the sun was setting, so we would have to check out the gardens tomorrow.
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