After our 4-day hike, a day of rest seemed in order. We talked with our fabulous trip coordinator Juan who made some changes on the fly to our itinerary, allowing us more time in Cusco and some additional local jaunts in lieu of another 3-day trek as originally planned. And so, our primary plan for today was to sleep in, do laundry, and visit the Inca Museum just around the corner from our hotel. We managed the second two, but our confused body clocks seemed to think that 7 AM was a luxuriously late hour!

The Inca Museum has a decent collection of pre-Columbian and pre-Inca artifacts, plus (as one would expect) many exhibits on the Incas. Some of the most interesting were large three-dimensional scale models of famous archeological sites, including Choquequirao and Machu Picchu. We also saw a somewhat eerie life size display of real Inca mummies. Unlike Egyptian mummies, Incan ones crouch in a fetal position with their heads up as though they are watching you. (Unfortunately, the museum does not allow photos so we can’t share any here.)

We thought our museum visit was drawing to an end, but the real highlight was still to come. Nick stumbled upon a small door near a display of the museum’s musical instrument collection, and on entering heard music begin to play. Not a recording – a man in local traditional dress was playing a wooden flute, and proceeded with an almost magical demonstration of instruments making animal sounds of all kinds – bird wings in flight, panther growls, falcon screams, and woodpecker tapping, to name a few, all performed with a real showman’s (shaman’s?) touch. Turns out the room contained a vast collection of replica instruments from pre- Incan and Incan eras, and the musician’s skill made them come to life. Better yet, he encouraged us to try them! We were all spellbound but Susannah was especially in heaven, since she had been hoping for exactly such an opportunity without knowing how to find it. The instruments were for sale and we simply had to take a few home, including a unique “trilogy” instrument that plays sounds of three animals: snake, panther, and condor. Very cool!

Later in the afternoon, Susannah and Nick visited a museum showcasing contemporary Peruvian folk art (an eclectic mix coming from a rich tradition not entirely familiar to us) and further explored the streets of Cusco on foot. All in all, a good day’s rest.