January 30th

Abancay to Cuzco

This was another day of beautiful, dramatic scenery and beautiful, friendly people. We left Abancay and headed into the Central Highlands on the way to our final destination of Cuzco. The winding road with many switchbacks offered endless opportunities to photograph the city of Abancay as we left it behind in the valley. Climbing into the clouds we saw many memorials along these dangerous curves. One in particular had about 30 memorials, all with the same date. We speculate that a bus went off the road into the valley far below.







Usually when we stop the car to take photographs, curious shepherds come up to meet us. All of the women either knit or spin alpaca wool while they tend their sheep, llamas, and alpacas. Children are curious but shy. The men tend to wave and go back to herding their animals.






As we got closer to Cusco, we happened to pass a livestock fair and decided to stop. Farmers from around the area of Anta had brought their animals to swap, sell, and buy and families had set up small restaurants and displays of their merchandise for sale. The animals ranged from bulls, to sheep, to cuy (guinea pigs). The food was chicken soup, fried fish, chicha (corn beer) and every kind of potato imaginable, including freeze-dried potatoes. The potatoes are freeze-dried by leaving them out in the field and they are considered a real delicacy here. I find them almost inedible. The chicha is interesting because it’s made by chewing corn and spitting it into a container. The chewed corn and saliva ferment and the result is chicha. After a long discussion about how it is made, we were encouraged by a group of chicha drinkers to try it, so we did. We survived.










We arrived in Cusco in the middle of the afternoon and found our apartment, unpacked the car, and went for a walk to the main square. Cusco is in a valley surrounded by mountains but is at 3310 meters so walking up all the hills takes a lot of effort! The Plaza de Armas is beautiful at night with a cathedral on one side, a church on another and arcades of shops and restaurants on the remaining two sides. The park is filled with local people and tourists. Touts try to sell shoeshines, paintings, weavings, but a “No, gracias” and they left us alone. There were police and security guards everywhere so we felt pretty safe. We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant near the square recommended by our landlady. I had alpaca carpaccio and trout and Tom had a salad and grilled alpaca. The carpaccio was outstanding but the grilled alpaca was a little tough. We had very good Peruvian wine with our meal and celebrated making it all the way to Cusco!