After having a great time in Cuzco on our first day there, we needed to take care of some business - a little over a week earlier while in Brazil we finally settled on a five day tour from Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon region. The selection process was a bit confusing as the same tour seemed to be offered by several web sites. We decided to go to the source, a website of the lodge (Wasai Tambopata) where we would be staying, and booked through a link there. Now, we needed to pay a deposit (which amounted to $632), equal to a half of our total payment, and they did not accept credit cards. As my online research turned up, an account at Western Union would be next to impossible to set up since we were already abroad. An international wire from one of my accounts would not only be expensive, but also difficult to arrange from Peru. So we worked it out over email with a travel agent, who responded to our inquiry on the website, so that instead of wiring the money we would just deposit cash into their account at Banco de Credito which happens to be the biggest Peruvian bank.
We located one of their branches in Cuzco and on Monday morning waited in a long line for our turn with a teller. Our wad of cash (US dollars) came both from ATMs in the USA and dollar friendly ATMs in Peru. We presented our cash and said we would like to deposit it into an account a number of which the travel agent gave us. They started inspecting the dollar bills. About a quarter of them did not pass the inspection. Some had a tiny rip, others were marked, and they would only accept perfect bills.
I volunteered to withdraw some more cash from their own ATM while Irina would wait. But wait, their ATMs were down temporarily. We ended up trekking back through the town to another ATM we had found a day earlier and got more cash there. Back in the line, we realized we would have a hard time making our appointment with a travel agent at our hotel to talk about our trip to Machu Picchu. So I went back ahead while Irina waited to deposit the money.
The agent was late so it did not matter. Irina came back from the bank with a tiny slip that did not show any info as far as who deposited the money. We took a picture of it and sent it to the agent in Lima arranging our trip and hoped everything would work out fine. Meanwhile, the other agent at our hotel in Cuzco offered us a good price for the trip to Machu Picchu, including our own driver for a tour of the Sacred Valley before catching a train from Ollaytatambo to Machu Picchu. So instead of running around town on our own to buy tickets to Machu Picchu, tickets for the train, and figuring out how to get to the train, we took her package and had the rest of the day off...
Incidentally, my Lonely Planet guide from 13 years ago showed prices of about one third for much of the admissions and fares. Peruvians have definitely taken to the market economy and learnt to take advantage of their country's popularity.
We continued our walking tour where we left off the day before, in particular near Qoricancha, a site of once the most important Inca temple. The Spanish incorporated some of its walls into a cathedral of Santo Domingo they built in its place.
Later, we took a cab up to Sacsayhuaman, an Inca site just above the city. We hired a guide to walk us through the ruins. She provided some history background and pointed out some rocks shaped like Inca sacred animals, among other things. Given that Incas did not leave any written records, it is amazing how little is known about their history and culture. The piles of rocks that remain give a incomplete picture how they lived. There are nice views from the ruins overlooking the city. The original layout of the city in the shape of a puma has long been lost in a sea of houses that extend up and down the valley. The landmark Plaza del Armas was easy to spot. From Sacsayhuaman, we walked over to an illuminated statue of the Christ and then back down to the city.
Like the evening before, we walked to Plaza del Armas to have dinner. We were offered a menu in one of the arcades on the square. It looked interesting. Little did we know that the restaurant was some three blocks away. We were the only customers and they went to great lenghts to keep us happy. I ordered a "cuy chactado", a fried Guinea pig. When they brought it out, it looked like a little rabbit, and it came including the teeth. When the chef saw me try to tackle it with a knife and a fork, he ran out and recommended to just use hands. It was a bit on the dry side, so I washed it down with a local lager Cusquena.
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