Cusco, Peru

Well after enduring our bus ride from hell we happily settled into the beautiful and endearing city of Cusco for a few days as a base for our Machu Piccu visit. The city is ringed by the Andes Mountains on all sides and is bustling with tourists, shops and well preserved Spanish colonial buildings and churches. The biggest shock arriving in the town is the altitude. At 3,000 plus metres above sea level it can literally take your breath away with the reduced oxygen. We were slow moving upon arrival, especially with our heavy packs, but adjusted well-enough given the experiences of the previous day. The best remedy for the altitude sickness we found was cocoa tea and little cocoa candies that we bought locally.

After finding a quaint hotel close to the central plaza we set off to explore the city and get our Machu Picchu tickets, transportation and accommodation in order. Getting to the archaeological ruins is not an easy task both from the sheer number of tourists making the same trip but also by the fact that it can only be reached by train or foot and is 4 hours away from Cusco. We opted for the train route as the area gets extremely cold at night due to the altitude and current winter season and were extremely happy with the decision (details will follow in a separate Machu Piccu post). The nights were so cold in Cusco that Carolyn wore 6 layers of tops, 2 layers of pants and 2 pairs of socks and still had a chill. I only had a rain jacket with me so I purchased a new North Face jacket shell and felt warm afterwards. But that warmth may also been from the fact that I bought it for $50 dollars US which would be about a quarter the price back in Canada. There are hundreds of North Face shops all catering to Machu Picchu trekkers and I definitely benefited from this overstock.

One of our highlights from Cusco was strolling through all the market stalls looking at the local handicrafts and bartering for a good price. The hand-woven textiles were very intricate and colourful and the alpaca products were soft to the touch. If we didn’t have the space limitations imposed by our packs or 6 more weeks or travel we probably would have purchased a number of items. Carolyn did pick up a pair of multi-coloured socks and has been proudly wearing them ever since. We also met a very nice couple from Brazil and the United States and had a great evening chatting over Peruvian beers with them. We wish Sergey and Ana all the best with the rest of their travels through Peru and Columbia.