Cusco was a beautiful city! Tucked in the mountains with fresh air and blue doors all around. Although our thighs definitely got a work out 🙂 We stayed at the top of a large hill and were definitely out of breath making the hike up while we adjusted to the altitude. Overall though, Cusco was a bit of a mixed bag for us since Dan and I both got pretty ill. We tried to make the best of it, but it’s never fun to be sick while traveling. Luckily our hotel was super comfortable! Cusco’s Hilton Garden Inn was nicer than most Hiltons and such a great price.
We spent a lot of time just walking around and soaking things in. We did try alpaca, which was delicious and super lean, but avoided the guinea pigs roasted on a stick 😉 Cicciolina was certainly all it was hyped up to be- the menu in the bar area is tapas style, so we were able to try a bunch and loved it all. Marcela Batata was also killer! One day we toured around with a local and ate lunch in Sacred Valley at a woman’s home. The food was simple and delicious but pretty sure that’s where I picked up the food poisoning… there were guinea pigs running around the dirt floor of the kitchen. Still considered it worth it to see just a tiny slice of life in the area. We also tried some homemade chicha from a road side chicheria, which is beer made out of corn. And of course, you’ve got to love the $10 massages and women holding baby “alpacas” hoping you’ll pay for a picture with them. They are actually lambs. Tricky! I also loved visiting Qorikancha- it was originally an Incan temple that the Spanish turned into a Catholic church.
So glad we were able to spend several nights in this city. It really helped us adjust to the altitude as we prepared to hike to the Inca trail!
bewitchered 
This trip is on my bucket list. Thanks for giving me a preview!
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We loved it!
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Really cool! Soon I’ll write about my experience in Cusco in 2015! Really liked the city, foods nad everything else. I got really interested about your post because you are talking about “blue doors all around” and when I was there, it was something so natural to see that i didn’t even noticed, and that’s kind of true hahaha cool!!!
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ha, funny! I have a thing for blue, so maybe that’s why it stuck out to me 🙂
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Just posted myself about our trip to Peru and Cusco. http://www.miles-away.blog
Was interesting to see how you saw Peru. Thanks for sharing.
Wasn’t it fabulous??
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Definitely! We got so lucky with the weather too. It was perfect. Loved your note on the people at Machu Picchu- we were of the group who hiked, so we looked like death compared to everyone who had taken the train! Hope to get those photos up soon.
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You did the Inca trail? Wow. Respect.
I am recovering from hip surgery, no Inca trail for me. Looking forward for more pictures from you!
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