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We departed the ship at 5am, identified our large bags which were going to be taken directly to the hotel in Lima where we would stay on our return from Cusco. Victor, the group director from Abercrombie and Kent, took our carry-ons and left us with Rob's backpack which held our valuables and my all-purpose traveling shoulder bag with paperwork, Kindle, etc. (This is the way to travel!) We got on two buses and headed for the airport, where Victor handed us our boarding passes with names and seat assignments. He checked all the bags and got the luggage receipts as this was a commuter plane so there was a limit to what you could take in the cabin. He walked us through security, to the gate and on to the plane. We were served a small breakfast snack of a sandwich and something sweet during the one-hour, 600 mile flight to Cusco and 12,000 feet in altitude. Our group almost filled the plane, allowing only a few "regular" commuters on board. When we reached Cusco, Victor led us through departure, collected all the bags and put them in a van to the hotel and then walked us to 4 small buses where we split up into groups of 15-20. We met our guide for the next 2+ days, Gary (not what you would expect for a Peruvian name.) We really lucked out as he turned out to be a really great guide. He has been a guide for 13 years and is a native of Cusco, so has been to all the sites and Machu Picchu more times than he can count.

We went directly to the Hotel, Libertador Palacio Del Inka, which is definitely 5 star and all met in a room to fill out the hotel registration slips, give them our passports to copy and have our first taste of "coca" tea. Drinking this tea or chewing the leaves helps to offset altitude sickness. They recommended having a very light lunch or soup or salad and moving very slowly until acclimated. Many in our group never acclimated! We had a 2 hour free period until our first tour, so Rob and Daryl had a light lunch, dropped off anything else we could to go to our room, took a walk to the main plaza (very slowly!) and made dinner arrangements. We wanted to try Peruvian cuisine and asked Victor for some recommendations in Cusco. As we were talking to him, another couple in our bus group joined us as they were also interested in eating well and not at a pizza place. Terry and Micheline are from Vancouver, Canada and we had not met them at all on the cruise. Now, we had found a common interest in food, so we had Luis at the front desk make us a reservation at Chicha, owned by the "best chef in Peru" according to Victor.

At 2pm, we started our tour with Korikancha, the Temple of Gold, across the street from the hotel. Gary explained that this large Catholic church was built on the foundations of Inkan buildings and showed us how the block walls were constructed, tilting slightly inward, with niches built into them, to help withstand the earthquakes of the region. After this part of the tour, we were able to briefly go to our rooms before moving on. We found out that we had a nice, 5-star room, but with 2 double beds. Two of the men in our small group had such difficulty with the altitude that one was in a wheelchair and the other could barely move. Our next visit was outside Cusco to Sacsayhuaman (sort of pronounced sexy woman.) where we saw a community for 5,000 built by 70,000 workers moving huge stones (see us next to one of the largest in the photos) into walls.

Our last stop on the afternoon tour was the Basilica or Cathedral on the main plaza. We couldn't take any photos inside so can't show the immense amount of gold and silver used to build the various chapels and the whole silver altar in the main part of the cathedral. Silver is a symbol of the moon and woman and this church is dedicated to Our Lady, so the whole main altar is silver. Gold is male and all the side chapels are gold. Near the choir is the "black Jesus" of some renown and along one side of the silver altar is the very famous Peruvian version of the Last Supper. The faces are definitely Peruvian, there are Inkan symbols in the background, but most of all, the food on the table's central focus is on a roasted guinea pig, which is a special food in Peru. The whole church shows a marriage of Catholicism and the Inkan way, in the use of symbols.

After returning to the hotel and having a shower, we met Terry and Micheline in he lobby and walked back to the main plaza and found Chicha in an upstairs space. Luis at the hotel had written down a number of things we should try in order to get a fair sample of Peruvian specialties. We started with a glass of Chicha Morada, which is a non-alcoholic drink made by boiling purple corn in water and then adding mixed fruit juices. We did not have any starters, but tried 3 of the main dishes Luis had suggested. Rob had "cuy" or sautéed guinea pig cutlets with a quinoa side dish. Terry had "lomo saltado", which is sautéed beef with onions, peppers, etc. and potatoes. Micheline and Daryl had anticuchocs which are skewers of beef heart and also, in this case, chicken with fingerling potatoes in a spicy sauce. It was an interesting and delicious meal.

We then strolled back to our hotel as we had a 4:45am wake-up call the next morning for our excursion to Machu Picchu, the crowning glory of our whole trip.