Our plane left on time and we got out of the Cusco airport less than an hour and a half later. The tour was extraordinarily well-organizing and luckily, we chose the #1 bus of nine. That meant we travelled with our group of 14 people and met our guide, Miguel. He took us right to the main plaza for lunch and some sightseeing.
The altitude of Cusco is about 11,000 ft. As soon as we got out in the plaza, we felt a bit dizzy. Lunch, right in the main colonial square, was first. It was our first meal with fresh-water fish that could've been mistaken for fresh salmon. It's not good to have a lot of meat when first at a high altitude. We also had coca tea with our meal in order to help fight altitude sickness. We continued into the main Catholic cathedral. (We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, which was a shame as it contains a lot of artwork done by local artisans.) Most of the commissioned paintings and ornate religious carvings contained elements of the local religion. There were countless examples but probably the easiest to illustrate was the enormous painting of Christ's Last Supper. It contains only Peruvian foods on the table with a roasted guinea pig at the table's center.
We headed our van up another 1400 ft to visit a Llama, Alpaca, and Alkuna farm. We could have purchased items woven from their fur, but didn't. Rather, we accepted bunches of local grass, to feed them. They love the site of tourists and associate visitors with yummy food.
We went back down to check into the Hilton hotel overlooking some of Cusco. By then, we had headaches due to the lack of oxygen. Jay and I have about 30 bps higher pulses too. We had a nice set-menu dinner at the hotel at 7:00. There were local dancers.
Jay and I will have to wake up at 3:30 am tomorrow. We are going to bed soon.