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!