Day 5: Peru, Cusco: Carnavale to Cristo Blanco

Don, Greg, and I traveled by van from our lovely resort in bucolic Urubamba to a the gritty city of Cusco. Other than the miserable flights, if Exoticca wanted to improve their trip I would recommend putting guests up closer to the center of Cusco. We were about a mile and a half out of the main tourist area, but at 11,000 feet elevation, it felt even further. We could have taken a taxi for a few dollars, but their taxis do not have meters and require rapid negotiation in Spanish, something I was also not willing to do using my altitude hindered brain cells.

We checked into our hotel, also part of the Agusto chain, which sped up check in. Elise described or room as having "Ricky and Lucy" beds, an apt description for those of us with the cultural reference. Greg, the lone solo traveler in our group, had a queen sized bed. 

The three of us walked into the center of Cusco, where we were met with more Carnival scenes. Unlike Urubamba, these revelers were a few hours into their celebrations. If there was a reviewing stand, we missed it, and landed directly in the path of not only foam being thrown at us, but water balloons as solid as rocks (one hit me in the head and another in the chest as one-two punches), buckets of water, and colored chalk. After being hit by the water balloons, we found safer ground. We had already been warned it was dangerous in their Plaza des Armes by their cathedral, concern Greg heeded by buying a serious poncho for 10 soles ($3.50), advice Don and I ignored. 

We headed to something high on my wish list: Cristo Blanco. Unfortunately, Google maps guided us back through the crowds. At that point, none of us were in the mood. I figured if we walked away, Google maps would eventually guide us to a different path. It did -- straight up the hill, and what we later realized was another 600 feet above sea level. 

The 25-minute walk I had read about turned out to take us much, much longer.  Likely well over an hour. We went up nearly 1,000 stairs, and in one case had to climb down at least a hundred of them when a woman told Greg in Spanish that the road was closed up above. I admit, I wanted to sit down and cry in that moment. When we turned around, the views were stunning. The red tile rooftops glistened in the afternoon sun. All of Cusco looked like a postcard. 

Never ending stairs

At least I could enjoy the street art along the way

Love to know the story behind the flags

Some Carnavale revelers heading home

That wasn't getting us any closer to Cristo Blanco (White Jesus), a statue that evoked thoughts of Rio de Janeir's Christ the Redeemer statue, a seventh wonder of the modern world like Machu Picchu. Along the walk (hike? death march?) Greg told us about someone he follows who went to all seven wonders of the modern world in seven days. This wasn't quite that, but it makes for a good fake story.

After a stretch straight uphill on a dirt path (who knew I would actually miss the stone steps), I saw this sign. We were almost there!

We swapped cell phones to take pictures of each other at the top.

Then I paused to take pictures from the top before we decided how to get back down. Elise and Keith had reached out to say they were back in town from their day trip. They chose a restaurant. I tried to call a Didi, but none wanted to come all the way up to us. I later learned there is a toll to go up there, which they did not want to pay. That's fair. Greg negotiated a taxi ride for about $5.50, I reimbursed him in American dollars.

The Cathedral doesn't look that far away

You don't have to look far to find a llama,
or is it an alpaca?

There is also almost always someone
selling souvenirs

Views from a different day

I regret not pausing longer at the top. There is a native village called Saqsayhuman we should have visited. Instead, exhausted from the hike and worn out from altitude sickness, we hopped in the taxi and met our friends for dinner and to make plans for the next day.

 

We thought the soup was expensive.
It worked out to $10 a bowl with
really good bread.