Cusco really surprised me. Upon arrival I didn’t know what to expect, and simply wasn’t prepared to like the city so much. However I love a good surprise, and was happy we had a few days to explore.
Arriving in Cusco
When I arrived in Cusco I felt worn out. For once I didn’t manage to sleep much on the night bus, and that affected my mood heavily. Once again we had to wait before checking into our hotel, so instead of a much desired nap I headed out for breakfast and a city tour. I must admit that breakfast lifted my spirits a little. We ate at a place called Jack’s, and it was unreal. If you’re looking for a breakfast/lunch place in Cusco, this is the one. The meals are huge and so amazing!
I left breakfast very full, but still feeling like a zombie. Therefore I don’t think I even realized how nice Cusco is while we did our little walking tour. I only remember seeing a few squares, some places that were good for shopping and that we eventually ended up at the local market, where we tried local fruit and snacks. At last we were able to check into our hotel, where I had a well-deserved shower and a nap. I finally felt like a human being again.
Shopping the local goods
In the afternoon I met up with the others to get a shopping session in. During our walking tour our guide had showed us a place he recommended for buying local products, mainly all things made out of alpaca wool. We spent a good couple of hours in that shop and left quite a few soles behind. I managed to buy a few scarves, a headband and a few other things, and was very happy with my purchases. The owner of the shop also had quite a big smile by the time we were done, having made a nice profit that day.
When we were done shopping we headed to a tour agency to get some information before the Inca Trail, which was only a few days away. We got acquainted with our guide and were happy to learn that our trekking group would only consist of the eight of us that were already traveling together. We then wrote down what kind of equipment we wanted to rent. I opted for a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat, but decided against walking poles, as the only one in our group. Afterwards we headed out for a delicious burger before going to bed early. We had an early rise the following morning.
Hiking the Rainbow Mountain
In many ways hiking Rainbow Mountain was the ultimate warm up before taking on the Inca Trail. I already considered myself a mountain goat after my Huaraz adventures, and had no worries concerning hiking Rainbow Mountain nor the Inca Trail, but for the rest of my group this turned out to be good preparation.
Hiking the Rainbow Mountain was amazing from start to finish. The weather was great, the views were unreal and it was so good to get my hiking boots on again. Read my full post about climbing Rainbow Mountain here.
Cusco markets
Cusco has a lot of markets, and we only briefly got to explore a few of them. On the morning we were to depart for Ollantaytambo to start the Inka Trail, we decided to roam the markets to get a few items for our group to improve our team spirit. We picked up a few colourful scrunchies for the girls and finger puppets for all of us (don’t ask me why, but they made for cute photos). The markets are spread out all across town, and you can get just about anything here.
Celebratory drinks
Cusco is both the starting point and where you end up after the Inca Trail. After completing our amazing four day trek, we therefore once again found ourselves in Cusco, tired but content. We had been told that on the day you complete the Inca Trail you are supposed to stay awake for a full 24 hours, and had decided to take on this challenge. We had been up since 3 am, and figured the best way to stay awake was to go partying.
After a dinner, where we also got to mix our own Pisco Sour, we went to a club on the main square. It wasn’t great, and when they started giving dancing lessons in the middle of the club we quickly decided to bail. Instead we headed for the party hostel Wild Rover, where we had a great time. It had, however, been a long day with so many impressions, so when the clock struck 3 am I was more than ready for bed. I think most of us felt the same way.
Exploring Cusco
It’s kind of ironic, but it wasn’t until my last full day in Cusco that I got to explore it properly. After waking up slightly tired and hungover me and a few of the others decided that we had to get something out of the day, although nothing too excessive. We enjoyed yet another filling breakfast at Jack’s, and I spent the entire day with Mika and Amy just exploring aimlessly. We ended up in small market, went to a really interesting Coca Museum, explored the old part of town, which has some cute narrow streets, and spent some time in a charming art shop. At one point we even found ourselves taking selfies with local kids on a school excursion. It was such a good day!
Later we met up with our group and had dinner in a place called Mr. Soup, which (obviously) served soups. They were so good!
Cusco treated me really nicely. It gave me great adventures, good food and just generally a good time. Looking back at it, Cusco was probably my favourite city in Peru. Luckily there is no way anyone will skip Cusco when visiting Peru, and if you do you sure will be missing out.
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2. April 2020
[…] should still be manageable to climb even for people with little hiking experience. If you happen to find yourself in Cusco, a day trip to Rainbow Mountain is one I would highly […]