Day Three - Mummies and music

// July 30th - Cusco //

A whole bunch of stars covered the city on my offline map, mostly in the historical center. 
On the to do list for today - all the museums! 
My host Mery and I started the day with laughter. She served me "jugo con piña y tuna", and the first thing crossing my mind was of course the fish (even though it's atún). Thank you for the explanation, that they call the fruit of the prickly pear, a cactus, tuna. 
Nevertheless this conversation, as well as those with some locals later this day, made me realize that my Spanish skills are still somewhere in my brain, I just have to keep on working - and speaking. I even paid two Soles less in the cab when I talked Spanish to the driver. 

So, after el desayuno I headed to the first star on my map - the "Museo del Arte popular". Unfortunately the entrance fee for non-Peruvians was 180 Soles - over $50. Since I'm trying to keep this at a budget, I skipped this museum. 
Instead I visited the Iglesia de La Compañía de Jesús first. No pictures allowed inside, but let me tell you, the 21 m golden Altarpiece was more than impressive. 
From the windows, where you're allowed to take photos, I had a nice view over the Plaza de Armas. 
Less impressive since you're not in a 445 year old church, but still nice: the views from the second floor of Starbucks (I feel like that's literally the only place with working wifi in the whole city) right next to the church, and the organic restaurant "Greens", where I got the only spot on the balcony for lunch. 

While the other two museums I visited afterwards were mostly archaeological exhibitions. 
Both left a lasting impression though: I still shiver when I think about the mummies in the "Museo Inka". They literally had a room of mummies, just a meter away, separated from the visitors by a wall with glass windows. Their faces distorted, grey shreds of skin, muscles and hair still attached to the body. The mummy of a child right next to a grown up that looked like Edvard Munch saw this face when he painted "The Scream". 

Way easier to enjoy was the little clay hut in the "Museo de Arte Precolombino". The friendly Peruvian inside first explained all the different music instruments inside, and then went over to demonstrate. Sitting on a bench covered in llama fur, listening to him playing tiny ocarinas and larger vasija silbadoras ("whistling vessels") was jaw dropping yet relaxing. It's unbelievable how those instruments not only play beautiful music, but also are able to imitate the animal that they're shaped as. A howling coyote, a busy woodpecker, all kinds of birds... 

The last item on my list for that day was Quorikancha, the temple of the sun. To be honest - this was rather disappointing. The history itself is interesting. The temple was dedicated to the Sun God, Inti. The only thing left of the ancient temple that was once covered in silver and gold are the ruins of chambers on both sides. A guide explained how these ruins are the base of the Church de Santo Domingo, that the Spanish conquistadores build. The church was pretty much destroyed by two earthquakes, but the massive stone walls of the Inca temple still remained intact. 
But the fact that this site is literally covered in tourists, shoving and pushing each other around, makes the visit not really enjoyable. Even to enter you have to zigzag around massive tourist groups, locals who're selling churros, sunglasses and alpaca sweaters or even the actual alpacas that some of them carry with them, to earn a few soles with every tourist that wants to take a picture with them. Which is illegal, by the way, because when the local police drove by suddenly all the baby alpacas were hidden underneath their ponchos.
Seriously, the 16th chapel in Vatican City wasn't as crowded as Quorikancha. 

Later that evening, after getting lost in the streets and going from shop to shop asking for wifi, I finally found my way to the apartment of the Canadians, and the night ended with a few cervezas, the smallest taco that I ever ate and rounds of pictionary and "Heads up" in a small Mexican restaurant. 

Ready for day four!











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