Cusco

The city of Cusco is beautiful for lack of a better word. It’s in Peru, but it looks like a city in Europe.

Arriving in Cuzco after a rather arduous bus journey, stalled only by a minor landslide, we arrived in the tourist town to begin our three day acclimatization to the altitude. We thought it wise to endure the bus not only to save a bit of cash but also because we thought it would help our bodies adjust, but we had no idea how different the exertion on our bodies would be up in the mountains until we attempted to explore the rather tourist riddled town. Wild dogs abound on the streets where we noticed that even the locals seemed to enjoy walking downhill much more than going back up.

As the city is nestled into the nook of a valley, Tomasz and I decided to explore one of the vantage points to gain a better view. Meeting many foreigner friendly locals along the short trek, we got our first up close looks at llamas and alpacas before realizing that tourism made up the backbone of the economy in these parts. Souvenirs, knickknacks and even photos all came at a (very nominal) price and bargaining is almost encouraged with street vendors. All in all it was a rather easy going few days filled with exploration and discovery, eating and sightseeing.

Notable attractions include the vantage point above the city where a statue of Jesus stands with outstretched arms (which is actually where we met the friendly character you see pictured above named Maximus), the History Museum of Cuzco where guides relish in telling you about the heritage of the area and its people, the Plaza de Armas which is much like the one in Lima and all of the markets in town where all things kitschy and touristy can be found for bargain dollar.

Written by AJ Kwong