Wanderlust | Cusco, Peru
Portal de Belén, where a woman sells her famous warm tamales.
This was excerpt from ‘Valley of the Sun’ in ROSE & IVY Journal No.11. Watch ‘A Day in Cusco’ the short film.
What exactly catapults a destination to a bucket list? Is it the remnants of an impression left from a transportive photograph or a moving picture from a film; perhaps it’s a travel story told by an acquaintance that left a lasting impression. Or could it be the sheer desire to travel somewhere that is far outside your everyday realm? Personally speaking, it’s always been a bit of all these things. For as long as I can remember, a wanderlust gene has been somehow planted inside of me. This is where I dream; where I feel unencumbered and free; where I happily get lost in another culture and seduced by the beauty of a foreign landscape with my camera in tow.
Peru was high on my list. I longed to see the fertile Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu laden with Incan ruins, with a picturesque fog hanging low over a backdrop of jagged green peaks. I wanted to wander down narrow cobblestone streets and see locals clad in vibrant dress, their golden complexions imprinted with decades of South American sun—their dark hair woven into two tight, long braids.
I landed in Cusco in late April, just as the country was emerging from the wet season. Remnants of a late morning drizzle left the streets glistening. Overhead the sky appeared dramatic; on one side of the city, the sun was bursting through the clouds, the beams of light illuminated the colonial architecture, while on the other side, storm clouds were moving through, creating both a dramatic and mystical feeling, mirroring the mood of the city itself.
A Walking Tour of Cusco
Cusco is laden with history from flourishing empires to conquests, the remnants that still can be seen today while exploring the town. Between the 1500s and 1800s, the Spanish constructed a large degree of their architecture on top of existing Incan temples and palaces that were built around the 1000s to the 1500s. I noticed the majority of buildings have a stone foundation, finished with a stuccoed facade and ornate wooden balconies. Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Sight in 1983, the city is a walk through time. On an early Tuesday morning, The Plaza de Armas, the main square, was a fulcrum of activity. Mothers held their children’s hands gently tugging them up the cobblestone street to school, their backpacks bopped up and down; police officers clad in neon conducted traffic shouted, ‘vamos, vamos’; meanwhile, the Peruvian sun lit up the green mountains behind the majestic Iglesia San Francisco. Moments like this, observed by yourself, better acquaint you with everyday life.
I learned by exploring that Cusco is a very safe city both during the day and at night. There are many police officers patrolling on foot, but when it comes to walking, one must act with conviction! Even at crosswalks, drivers were hesitant to stop, so even when I thought that there was enough time to cross, I did so swiftly. Dodging traffic was tricky but something that I attempted to master after my first day. In order to get a glimpse into the city’s history, I connected with local guide Alexander Medina of Venturia, a very knowledgeable source on all things pertaining to Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was a few minutes from the hotel, under the Portal de Belén, where a woman sold warm, sweet and savory tamales. I carefully unwrapped the corn husk package only to savor a comforting treat filled with cornmeal and laced with the subtle scent of star anise.
While exploring a few neighborhoods, I noticed that the majority of street signs weren’t in Spanish but Quechua, the original language spoken by the Incas. In 1975, the government passed a law making both it and Spanish the two national languages of Peru. You can also feel the importance that religion has played in the country; within a one block radius from the main plaza, there are more than seven churches, the largest being the Cusco Cathedral. Completed in the mid-1600, it’s an opulent display of art and architecture like the choir stalls carved purely from cedar—not to mention elaborate gold detailing throughout. After an afternoon of taking in the sights, I dined at Ceviche Seafood Kitchen, a restaurant devoted to the flavors of the Peruvian coast. Besides offering a variety of ceviche, a recent menu included mouthwatering potato croquettes topped with a tangy shrimp salad for a starter. For my main, I enjoyed grilled trout accompanied by Andean corn. There are plenty of inventive drinks to help to wash it all down, like lemongrass lemonade, or chicha morada, a sweet purple concoction made from the region’s purple corn.
Getting to Know Cusco Through Its Food
One of my favorite ways to get assimilated to a different culture is through its food and that means a visit to a local market is always a must. There are several options dotted throughout, some catering more towards locals, tourists or both. The JW Marriott El Convento Cusco offers a wonderful opportunity to visit Mercado San Pedro, accompanied by Executive Chef Jonathan Campos of the hotel’s restaurant Qespi, which is followed by an hour-long cooking class back at the hotel.
After about a 15-minute walk from the hotel, we arrived at the market geared up to taste the local flavors. There are many varieties of superfoods native to Peru that are now catching on to mainstream diets—maca, quinoa, cassava flour to name a few—but here, they have long been a staple, some dating as far back as the Incas. Many of the vendors welcomed you to sample fruit or cheese for a nominal fee. First up, I tried a handful of tropical fruits like pacay, also known as an ice cream bean, which had a sweet white pulp nestled around large black seeds and resembled a fava bean; next, I tried lucuma, a yellow fruit with a sweet flesh similar to a cooked sweet potato. Soursop was my favorite, with its reptile-like green exterior, it tasted like a cross between a pineapple and mango. I also saw maca root in its true form, as well as chuño, a dried potato that resembled a white stone that gets re-hydrated by boiling it in hot water before it is prepared. Elsewhere inside, locals slurped piping hot bowls of chicken soup, a market favorite; visitors stocked up on colorful textiles, artfully shaped cheeses were proudly displayed alongside bags of corn and quinoa in many colorful varieties.
We picked up a loaf of Oropesa bread, an airy loaf scented with anise and a slight sweetness, a chunk of aged Gouda and several bars of Peruvian chocolate to enjoy with our lunch. Back at the hotel, I learned the art of making ceviche—a dish I had always said I didn’t like, but in full transparency, I think it’s because it was prepared incorrectly. After learning the ropes with Chef Campos, my mind was officially changed. Fresh trout, a local freshwater fish, was bathed in tiger’s milk—a zesty concoction of lime and ginger juice, fish stock and cilantro—then garnished with red onions and sweet potatoes that had been stewed in orange juice and star anise. I learned the basics to try my hand at it back at home. My cooking class was followed by a seven-course tasting meal later that evening at Qespi, inspired by the flavors of Cusco. The elaborately presented dinner included dishes such as a colorful salad dotted with edible flowers and wine poached apples; then it was a decadent gratin of potatoes slathered in herbed Andean cheese. After a very full day of eating, I sipped a hot cup of muña, a revered Andean herb that is said to soothe digestion and help with the altitude, before drifting off to sleep.
Churros filled with dulce de leche outside Mercado San Pedro.
Andean cheeses piled high at Mercado San Pedro
Photography by Alison Engstrom