My Travels In Peru

Cusco: Centre of the Inca World

"What a change!" we both said when we arrived in Cusco from La Paz. We're back to the same city we had visited three years earlier when I did the Inca Trail, but there's something different. At first, it's the increased number of tourists that strike us, but then we realize that the city itself has changed. It's definitely more upscale. Not only are there more luxury hotels in the centre, the old buildings were given new life. They had been scrubbed clean, giving the city a brighter look. It vibrates with an energy that we had not seen on previous trips. Even the locals seem more prosperous and optimistic. There's a much larger army of street vendors catering to the bigger hordes of tourists.

The first shock came when we tried to check in at the same hotel we had stayed at previously. For the same room, they were asking in dollars what we had earlier paid for in Soles; that's about three times as much. It immediately confirms that Cusco has gone upscale. Tourism is now the mainstay of its economy. 

Unfazed by this new reality, we proceed to find a comfortable hotel room to settle into for the next week. After all the moving around we did in the Lake Titicaca area and the Bolivian highlands, we're ready for a place to call home. We find a charming place that is like an oasis in the middle of a bustling city. It's near the centre, on a dead-end street closed to traffic, and the room on the second floor faces a lovely landscaped patio, with trees, plants, and flowers that attract hummingbirds. I spent much time admiring and photographing them, at least trying to.

It's an old mansion converted into a bed and breakfast. Every morning we sit around a long table in what must have been the old dining room enjoying a delicious breakfast with other guests. It's a good way of meeting others and exchange travel information. Every day we meet new travelers with different stories to tell, and after a few days the staff call us by name and treat us like family. They make us feel very comfortable.

During the empire years, Cusco was considered the centre of the world; today, it's the centre of Peru's tourism. Despite the Spanish conquest, it remains an Incan city. People flock to it to see Machupicchu and the Sacred Valley. Some continue on to Arequipa to see the nearby Colca Canyon, or to Puno to see Lake Titicaca and the islands. But Cusco is a destination on its own. Its museums captivate visitors with the history of one of the most powerful empires the world has seen and the mystery of how it quickly disintegrated with the appearance of the Spanish conquistadors.

The historical and social centre of Cusco is Plaza de Armas – the main square. On one of its sides stands the imposing cathedral built by the Spaniards on top of an Incan palace. It's a beautiful church, but one thing in particular attracts my attention – the last supper painted by a member of the Cusqueño School. I don't remember his name, but the peculiar and fascinating thing is that Jesus and his disciples are sitting down to eat cuy (guinea pig), rather than the traditional bread! 

On the other side of the plaza is the church of the company of Jesus, also built on top of an Incan palace. This church is another example of outstanding colonial architecture. The other sides of the square are filled with two story houses with wood balconies on the upper floors and porticos on the main, sheltering pedestrians from the rain and sun. These are now home to restaurants, cafés, and tourist shops. 

The Inca statue sitting above a tall stone monument dominates the carefully laid out square, sporting manicured gardens and stone-paved pathways lined with benches for the weary. The imposing bronze statue was erected to the memory of the Inca who led the resistance against the Spaniards and was executed in the very same square.

Close to the main square is the convent of Santa Catalina, which was built on the same site as the Acllahuasi (the house of the chosen women, or virgins of the sun). So, in effect, the Spaniards merely replaced one set of virgins with another. Very little remains of the Acllahuasi: a section of exterior wall on Loreto street and a piece of the building corner on Arequipa and Maruri streets.