On To Cusco

Thursday, May 5 was wet and chilly but a group got up super early to return to the citidel. Not us. We slept in and had a hearty breakfast. Then we retraced our steps. Bus down the mountain to Machu Picchu Town, then aboard the train to Ollantaytambo, then vans to Cusco, which sits at 11,000 feet above sea level.

Our new lodging is at the magnificant Belmond Monasterio Hotel. Sitting next to the lively Cusco central square, the Belmond Monasterio Hotel is a former monastery and national monument dating back to 1592. This beautiful Spanish edifice is built on top of an ancient Inca palace, as seen by the walls of original Inca stone that give way to the hotel’s regal doorway. The hotel’s history is enhanced by the stunning art that adorns the walls and the stone columns that rise from a series of inner courtyards, with the main cloister protecting a 300-year-old cedar tree. There is also a baroque chapel decorated with works by Cusqueña artists.

Cusco at the start of the Spanish Empire, 1565, painting by Giovanni Ramusio

The hotel was amazing. We checked in and got COVID tested (again) - sorting out our affairs in the stunningly restored 1595 chapel.