Cusco Day 2

Sunday April 2nd we decided we needed to find the chapel and attend at least one session of general conference. We were kind of bummed it was conference weekend because we were looking forward to going to actual church. It worked out well though.

We set out early to make sure we knew where the chapel was.

 Then we walked around the area where the chapel was because we had some time to kill. This would be the theme for the day, walk, and then walk some more and some more. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to see a new part of town.

We made it back to the chapel in time for conference. the missionaries from America were grateful we attended because it meant they got to watch it in English. We all sat together in the kitchen. it was a fun and different way to watch conference.

 After conference we needed food. Amber had researched places to eat and so we headed to Joe's Cafe. This was a little tourist restaurant that served food we were more used too. I took a selfie because it was the only time I saw a line for a restaurant and of course it was all tourists.

 I tried the nachos and they were good. We both enjoyed the food.

 We spent the rest of the day walking. We walked all over the city. We walked to places that most tourists bus too. We had a goal of seeing the Christo Blanco that was way up on the hill so we made our way in that direction.

We took our time to enjoy the city. In the upper part of Cusco all the streets are small. They are also made out of cobblestone. you can't go fast. It is definitely different than anywhere I have been before. Our guide later explained that because of how small the streets are they don't have a problem with robberies because there is no way to get away.

 There was another beautiful square that had a number of old churches in it.

 They were really beautiful old buildings.

 Walking along the streets of Cusco.

Finally we found some stairs that led up. Again this picture does not do it justice but these stairs go on for days. We took them because we knew we needed to go up!

It was like doing the stair climber at the gym at 12,000 ft elevation. We slowly but surely made our way to the top. Don't tell anyone but occasionally we had to stop to rest.

 So many stairs.

 A different view of the city. So many houses. The population in Cusco is jest under 500,00.

 We had an amazing sky at the Christ Blanco because a thunder storm was rolling in.

 And I remembered my new phone has portrait mode!

  The Cristo Blanco.

 Someone else dressed up in native clothing and charging for pictures. I snuck one of her and her llama.

The back side of the Christo Blanco.

 This field of wild flowers and the grey sky were amazing!

It was an amazing evening.

There were some ruins up here as well. Saqsaywaman pronounced sexywomen. They were more than what we wanted to pay so we just enjoyed them from the inca trail.

Amber walking down the section of the Inca Trail. It was fun to have a different way to go back down to the city.

 The living conditions were so different from America. It is always interesting to see how people live in different places. So many houses, so close together, with no one keeping them up. The higher up on the mountain we got the sketchier the living conditions.

 Churros round two. They were so delicious.

 A little more shopping.

We had to be back to our hotel at 7 for a meeting with the tour company. It was fun to finally get to meet the people we would hike with and our tour guide. We had a short meeting and then we spent the evening organizing all our gear for the hike. We went to bed early since we had to get up at 5am. As fate would have it we were both to anxious to sleep. We both started day three way too early.