The phone rang for our 6:00 am wake up call. Having been to the Lima airport a couple of times, we were surprised by the crowds on a Sunday morning. Nonetheless, the lines moved quickly. Ian and two travel buddies, Nancy and Susan, wanted some dark chocolate—there was a wall full of choices and each pick out something. Eight bags of chocolate later, they returned to the gate. After an hour delay, we arrived in Cusco. Drove to lunch at Inka Grill for a three-course meal just off the Centro Historico de Cusco. There was a parade of school children and the square was packed.
On our way to the Sacred Valley we stopped at Awana Kancha, a small camalid farm. There are four types of camelids: vicuña, guanaco, alpaca and llama. Until now, we had seen vicuña, alpaca and llama. We finally got to see a guanaco. We had not expected this because about 80% of the 600,000 guanacos in South America live in Patagonia and Argentina. We also had an opportunity to shop but we did not buy anything.
We made a second stop to experience the Inkariy Museum. It was a nice museum that gave us a sense of the people at the time through complex dioramas, artifacts and music. No photos were allowed. We pulled into the Sol and Luna Hotel as the sun set behind the mountains and a full moon hung over the valley. Our room was an Andean-style casita filled with art in the midst of flowers garden.
Our evening ended with a Peruvian cooking class with Chef Nacho Selis. We made pisco sours, quinoa soup, ceviche, lomo slatado, tacu, and two types of sauces (huancaina and ocopa). The chef invited both of us to assist during the evening.
When we returned to our room and crawled into bed—there were hot water bottles warming the sheets and soft music playing.
