June 26: Cusco

This was Betsy's last day in Peru. We set out early in the morning to visit the San Blas neighborhood. This is the area of Cusco well-known for galleries, artisan workshops, and winding cobbled streets. To reach the neighborhood, you walk about 5 or 10 minutes up a hill from the Plaza de Armas.

There's a lovely square in the center of the barrio. And we did find many nice specialty shops. One in particular had some very unusual wood, fabric, and papier-maché religious figures. We also wandered into ceramics shops and art galleries, and finally, up a narrow street, we found an artist busy in his very basic taller, or workshop. This guy had quite a collection of paintings that he did on paper he makes right there in the shop. He uses newspapers, bleaches out the ink, then rolls out the pulp and dries it on a screen. Most of his images were based on petroglyphs found in Peru near Nasca. We bought one and Betsy bought two.

Lunch was at a place called Jack's. I guess you'd call it a gringo restaurant, and it was filled with tourists from all over the world, including many backpacker types. The food was quite good. I ordered the pumpkin soup and we shared an order of fries. Did I mention that Peru is the birthplace of the potato and that over 2000 varieties are grown there? And they are very tasty! The restaurant had its very own dog-in-residence: a well-behaved and friendly boxer who obviously felt very comfortable near Betsy.

Jim and I rode with Betsy in the taxi to the airport and waited with her until it was time for her to go through security. I think she was sorry to leave and would have liked more time in Peru. We had a great time traveling with her. She had an overnight flight from Lima to Miami, and then a morning flight back to San Francisco.

Later that afternoon, Jim and I met up with a family that I knew from the school where I work. Mom, Dad and both their sons (who are now teenagers) had just completed the Inca trail the day before, and were staying one more day in Cusco before heading home. So we had a cup of hot chocolate together and heard about their adventures on the trail. Despite the strenuousness of the hiking and the altitude sickness, they loved the experience. On the trail, you get to see Inca ruins only accessible by hiking, and I've heard that the natural scenery is breathtaking. I just don't know if I could sleep on the ground for three nights and go that long without a shower.

For dinner, we returned to Nuna Raymi and had an excellent meal. I tried the alpaca steak (very mild and tender) and Jim had the steak I recommended from our first meal there. Once again, the staff treated us so well and were so friendly and accommodating. We missed Betsy at this point and wished she had been able to enjoy this last dinner in Cusco with us. The owner/waiter, Victor, and his sister-in-law Carol chatted with us as we made our way through the different courses. We learned that they had worked many ski seasons at a restaurant in Park City, Utah. Their dream, however, was to return to South America to open a restaurant of their own. I highly recommend Nuna Raymi to any visitor to Cusco.