On May 13th, we were to have a private city tour of cusco with the same guide Alvoro and driver Hector. We had finished breakfast at the hotel, and were ready at 8:30 AM.
I had read about San Pedro market to be a nice local market which is not touristy. I asked Alvoro to take us to that place, and skip a couple of ruins which would now not be so interesting having seen Machu Picchu. I also asked Alvoro to take us to the Bolivian consulate, because they give visas for free. At the border crossing, visas cost 55$.
The first stop was the Bolivian consulate. The visa was granted within just 10 minutes, and it was a small house in the outskirts of the city. Later we went to visit a ruins called "SaqsayWaman". These ruins were a little bit boring since we had seen Machu Picchu already. Still took some pictures here as well.
Later on, we went to the San Pedro market. This market was huge, lots of juice stalls, fruit shops, vegetable shops, meat shops, local restaurants etc. The most interesting was the meat market. They had some pig heads displayed. Also none of the meat/fish had any smell at all. The guide explained that everything is really really fresh here. Few pictures of the local San Pedro market.
After visiting the market, we then went onto visit the famous cathedral and the temple of sun. The cathedral was huge, had around 5 altars. Whenever the Spanish captured some land, they would immediately build a church in the sacred areas of locals, to show the superiority of their God.
Cusco is actually a very interesting city, and reminded me of some of the Himalayan towns like Gangtok, Darjeeling. The houses were all built on hill sides. The streets were really narrow, still cars went on those roads.
Around 1 PM, we went to Prasada for lunch. This was a nice cute place, another Hare Krishna restaurant. The food was also cheap here. Our guide Alvoro bid good-bye to us here. After lunch, we would be picked up for Hector towards the airport. We had tomato soup, some fresh salad and a lentil burger here. The soup was disappointing, but rest of the food was really good. The owner was a humble Peruvian, who is now studying Peruvian natural medicine. He mentioned that he wanted to visit Kerala to study Ayurveda.
After our lunch, our driver Hector picked us up. Tonight, we were to stay in a hotel 30 mins from the city of Puno. We knew food would be a problem if we did not plan well. So we decided to pick up some phulkas and dal from Maikhana Indian restaurant. We reached this restaurant around 2 PM, and our plan is to start from here towards Cusco airport at 2:30 PM, so that we can catch the 4:30 PM flight to Puno.
What happened next was not very pleasant. The lady Indian owner told us that she does not do take-aways. We explained our situation about the night stay where there is no veggie food, and that we were short on time. She relented only after lots of pleading. But she said she will charge the cost of entire buffet for the small portion of the "Dal". At that point, being helpless, we agreed. The menu was exactly the same as the dinner last day, and I have very little doubt that it was not fresh food.
The lady owner also asked her cook Suresh to make phulkas for us later, and attend to clients who had come after us. She was as un-friendly as she could be. Usually Indian restaurant owners are friendly towards fellow Indians coming from a far place, but this one was different. Luckily, she had to go out to pick up her kids from school. Suresh, the cook was super friendly and made all the fresh phulkas on time, and talked very well with us. As per plan, we started out at 2:30 PM towards the Cusco airport.
The flight to Puno was on time, and we reached Juliaca (a city near Puno) around 5:30 PM. Our hotel "Taypikala Lago" was around 1.5 hours drive from Juliaca. Our new guide Kevin and driver Victor received us at the airport, and we started the taxi ride to our hotel. We reached the hotel around 7:30 PM. The hotel was on the banks of Lake Titicaca, but it was just too dark to see anything.
The guide for the next day Juan called us, and told us that we will be starting the next day tour at 7:20 AM. After having the phulkas and dal we slept off.
I had read about San Pedro market to be a nice local market which is not touristy. I asked Alvoro to take us to that place, and skip a couple of ruins which would now not be so interesting having seen Machu Picchu. I also asked Alvoro to take us to the Bolivian consulate, because they give visas for free. At the border crossing, visas cost 55$.
The first stop was the Bolivian consulate. The visa was granted within just 10 minutes, and it was a small house in the outskirts of the city. Later we went to visit a ruins called "SaqsayWaman". These ruins were a little bit boring since we had seen Machu Picchu already. Still took some pictures here as well.
 |
| view of football stadium from near the ruins |
Later on, we went to the San Pedro market. This market was huge, lots of juice stalls, fruit shops, vegetable shops, meat shops, local restaurants etc. The most interesting was the meat market. They had some pig heads displayed. Also none of the meat/fish had any smell at all. The guide explained that everything is really really fresh here. Few pictures of the local San Pedro market.
 |
| Local bread made of corn flour - really huge |
 |
| So many varieties of corn - some even black/red in color |
 |
| Pig heads |
After visiting the market, we then went onto visit the famous cathedral and the temple of sun. The cathedral was huge, had around 5 altars. Whenever the Spanish captured some land, they would immediately build a church in the sacred areas of locals, to show the superiority of their God.
 |
| Temple of sun |
Cusco is actually a very interesting city, and reminded me of some of the Himalayan towns like Gangtok, Darjeeling. The houses were all built on hill sides. The streets were really narrow, still cars went on those roads.
 |
| Narrow streets in Cusco |
Around 1 PM, we went to Prasada for lunch. This was a nice cute place, another Hare Krishna restaurant. The food was also cheap here. Our guide Alvoro bid good-bye to us here. After lunch, we would be picked up for Hector towards the airport. We had tomato soup, some fresh salad and a lentil burger here. The soup was disappointing, but rest of the food was really good. The owner was a humble Peruvian, who is now studying Peruvian natural medicine. He mentioned that he wanted to visit Kerala to study Ayurveda.
After our lunch, our driver Hector picked us up. Tonight, we were to stay in a hotel 30 mins from the city of Puno. We knew food would be a problem if we did not plan well. So we decided to pick up some phulkas and dal from Maikhana Indian restaurant. We reached this restaurant around 2 PM, and our plan is to start from here towards Cusco airport at 2:30 PM, so that we can catch the 4:30 PM flight to Puno.
What happened next was not very pleasant. The lady Indian owner told us that she does not do take-aways. We explained our situation about the night stay where there is no veggie food, and that we were short on time. She relented only after lots of pleading. But she said she will charge the cost of entire buffet for the small portion of the "Dal". At that point, being helpless, we agreed. The menu was exactly the same as the dinner last day, and I have very little doubt that it was not fresh food.
The lady owner also asked her cook Suresh to make phulkas for us later, and attend to clients who had come after us. She was as un-friendly as she could be. Usually Indian restaurant owners are friendly towards fellow Indians coming from a far place, but this one was different. Luckily, she had to go out to pick up her kids from school. Suresh, the cook was super friendly and made all the fresh phulkas on time, and talked very well with us. As per plan, we started out at 2:30 PM towards the Cusco airport.
The flight to Puno was on time, and we reached Juliaca (a city near Puno) around 5:30 PM. Our hotel "Taypikala Lago" was around 1.5 hours drive from Juliaca. Our new guide Kevin and driver Victor received us at the airport, and we started the taxi ride to our hotel. We reached the hotel around 7:30 PM. The hotel was on the banks of Lake Titicaca, but it was just too dark to see anything.
The guide for the next day Juan called us, and told us that we will be starting the next day tour at 7:20 AM. After having the phulkas and dal we slept off.
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