Chocolate Museum

Day 250 – Cuzco, Peru

I have been sleeping a lot these last days, arriving by night bus, watching the Superbowl until late at night (kidding, I left before the end. I had to look up who won, although the Patriots were well in the lead when I left.)

But today the sun is peeking, so I’ve been a bit about! I finally bought a SIM card to have internet on my phone (I’m collecting Entel SIM cards for Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and next Ecuador!)

Then after a lunch stop I went to the chocolate museum. The highlight is of course the tasting, though I’m not that enthusiastic about coca- and chili-flavored chocolate.

However, the guide explained that cocoa trees absorb the essences of surrounding trees, which means that cocoa beans growing around banana, citrus, coffee plantations get those tastes… and the demonstration was conclusive. No wonder for people who know me, my favorite is the citrus one.

And there is, of course, the museum shop, full of chocolate, at the end.

But I was trying to write how wonderful my hostel was. In addition to incredibly comfortable beds, the restaurant has cheap food, there is hot water all day for tea, and since it is a 16th century colonial building, there is a beautiful inner court with upper gallery with arches, very thick walls (more than a meter thick), and well, it’s beautiful.

Cuzco – Hostel patio

I could argue that having lights on a timer in the showers can be difficult. I still haven’t succeeded in finishing showering before the lights turn off -though I haven’t hit the hot water turn off. It isn’t usually a problem, because there is always enough ambient light through the window from the courtyard to help me manoeuvre until I can get on the sensor switch again.

And the hostel is at 50% capacity -not only is February the low season, but it is the month when the Inca Trail is closed for maintenance, so there are especially few tourists. That means that we are around 3-4 people in my 8-bed dorm. Comfy.

But the weather was still beautiful, so it would have been a shame not to take advantage, so I went back out to take pictures of the city.

I finally wound my way to San Cristobal, a church that is half-way up a hill above the city, from where the view is marvellous.

Cuzco – San Cristobal

I couldn’t take any pictures from inside, but it was allowed from the bell tower, obviously.

There is a huge statue of the Christ on top of a nearby hill, but I wasn’t ready to climb that up yet! I’m hoping that public transportation will be able to take me there.