We dropped our rental car off at the airport and then got a taxi into Plaza 9 de Julio. We planned to visit the Museum of High Altitude Archeology (MAAM), in particular to see the Llullaillaco Children, 3 mummified children who were discovered at 6000m near the peak of the Llullaillaco Volcano. These 13, 4& 5 year olds drunk an alcoholic drink which put them to sleep, enabling them to be buried alive as a sacrifice to the gods. They only display one at a time (some locals are not happy with them being displayed) so we only got to see the Llullaillaco Boy – the 5 year old. It was incredible how well he was preserved.
We walked around the plaza and popped into a few of the working Cathedrals. Incredibly gaudy. We then got the Teleferico San Bernardo to the highest point in Salta city. Pretty average really. Our view of Salta wasn’t great. Another great feed at the Poseda El Prado – cooked by the mother owner. The place is family run with the mother, son and daughter all living on site in their own houses with the main homestead effectively the B&B.
Gabriel, the son, took us to the airport at 4am the next morning for our 5.58am(!) flight to Cusco via Lima. We were at our hostel Hospedaje Turistico Recoleta by 10.30am. The hostel is a 15 min walk from the Plaza de Armas, the main square in Cusco. Cusco, the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America, is 3400m above sea level and so we were expecting to feel the effects for at least a couple of days.
We did not feel too bad so decided to explore the Plaza and do some of my chores – get a haircut and replace the battery on my watch. Both were achieved after a couple of hours of exploring so we popped in to watch the first half of the Liverpool v Barcelona Champions League Semi in a local sports bar. It was obviously a quality sports bar because it had multiple photos of the All Blacks around the place. The bar was packed and we ended up watching the full game with a young couple – Soy, an Cusco local and his English girlfriend Becker. They were very handy in helping us with some additional supplies.
We were in bed by 7.30 (Cusco is 2 hours behind Salta). We both woke up feeling like we had hangovers – a symptom of the altitude adjustment, not the beers during the soccer! We headed out for breakfast – 30 solo each at a local hotel. We thought it was OK value until we found out the the exchange rate was 2.3 solo to the A$, not the 3.3 we had thought. We then chilled at the hostel before heading out for a bit more exploring. Spent some time in the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sienna – we even got to see a resident nun through a gate! We also visited the Cathedral of Santa Domingo – another working cathedral. Once again Deryn and I were amazed at the gaudy decadence inside the Cathedral, in stark contrast to the poverty outside. We boldly headed up the hill for our journey back to the hostel, really enjoying exploring the lanes and alleyways of this amazing city.
Our mates from Australia arrive tomorrow, ahead of us heading off on the Salkantay Trek next week. Can’t wait. And now of course, to finish off with a photo of a dog
