Cusco

This is a picture of the entrance to our hostel in Cusco. There was no heat in the place as far as I could tell. As you look through the doors, you can see a hallway which leads to some steps up to a lobby/breakfast area. It was cute and quaint. The lobby area was open to the sky and there was a tarp which could be pulled over when it rained. The rooms, probably 10 or so, opened off the lobby, down little nooks and crannies. Our room was down some steps from the lobby. At night it was pretty cold in our room, but our beds had 6 wool blankets on them, so we were cozy, once we were under the covers.










This is a view of our room---pretty cute and cozy. There were three beds and we had our own bathroom. There was no hot water in the sink--typical, and the shower had an electric heater in the shower head. That was interesting. I will post a picture later. Our windows opened onto the street and if you remember the street was quite steep, so we had a nice view. There was a restaurant below us and on Friday and Saturday night, it was party central. Those were the two nights that neither of us was feeling very well, so rather than go join the party, we just laid in bed and tried to sleep and ignore the noise.

There was a street protest and I took a picture (duh). A woman who was on the street by me asked me where I was from. Her English was pretty good--- so I was able to ask her what the protest was for. She said these people were angry with the president---Alan Garcia---because they had lost their jobs and were middle to older age and felt they would not be able to find another job. She was very nice to talk to. She told me she had worked on a cruise ship off the coast of Florida, but she was from Cusco. In the background you can see a giant mural which depicts the history of Peru.

This more modern structure had a fountain on the opposite side. It was in a park south of the main square. I don't know all the things represented, but you can see the puma, which is how Cusco was laid out by the Inca Pachacuti.

I felt right at home with a billboard advertising feminine hygiene products :-). What was even better was that the advertisement said "Discover the wonder of the world" and then showed a picture of Machu Picchu. Oh, my.....