After a few hours, one of the first things you notice about Cusco is the elevation.
Unless you have been acclimated to this section of the Andes Mountain range you are likely to experience some symptoms of altitude sickness. We are not talking Mt. Everest level fatigue and hallucinations, but just the beginnings of trouble breathing and maybe a slight headache. There are drug stores around town that sell things that are supposed to help, but the only sure cure is waiting it out. Walking, moving, breathing. In extreme cases, moving to a lower elevation and working your way back up.
The elevation of Cusco is 11,000 feet above sea level. The town is in a valley surrounded by higher Andean peaks. Its narrow roads, just wide enough for a small car, make the town look like a miniature version of San Francisco.
The walls are old and some date back to the 1500's. Most of the architecture is influenced by the Spanish who conquered the region during roughly the same time period.
Most visitors to Peru know Cusco as the place you go before you visit Machu Picchu. At my hotel everyone asked when I would be visiting the Inca citadel. Tomorrow, or the next day? It was a given in every conversation that I was going. Many guide books and videos on travel to Peru specifically recommend two days in Cusco as the best way to get used to the higher altitudes before seeing Machu Picchu.
The two places have always been tied together. Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire and it is still the capital of the Cusco region and province today.
There is plenty to do in the city itself and there are things to do in the general area by taking short day trips. The countryside is beautiful. Rolling hills, some used for agriculture, reach toward the base of the Andes Mountain range and the mountains themselves reach for the sky. Sometimes they are shrouded by low clouds. Sometimes they peek through the tops of the clouds. Sometimes the clouds are so close to the ground it appears a thin layer of mist is skimming the earth.
The main sections of Cusco, the ones you drive through on the way to the historic center, look like any middle class town of medium size in South America. People drive, walk, bike and use buses and taxis to conduct their daily business. Occasionally you will see someone dressed in traditional clothing walking the streets, but most wear the fashions of the day.
In the older part of the city where most of the tourists stay you are more likely to run into women dressed in native Peruvian costumes. Sometimes they are selling jewelry or other crafts. On many street corners you will find women with llamas or alpacas offering tourists the chance to take photographs with them in their traditional dress and with the animals that have been an essential part of life in the region.
I was in Cusco the weekend before Christmas and happened upon a Christmas parade moving through the narrow streets. You may notice from the photographs that the cell phone is now a fixed piece of Peruvian culture as it is in the rest of the world.
Cusco's main industry is tourism and you will find efforts being made continually to keep it safe and clean. Many young people earn college degrees in tourism and as part of their education learn English which makes communication easy for travelers from the United States and elsewhere.
Prices are reasonable. By this point in my around the world travel I had decided to stop using hostels as a means to save money and began splurging on hotels. None of the hotels in South America broke the bank and in Cusco I stayed in one of the best. I figured between the hostels of southeast Asia and the hotels of South America my budget for accommodations would average out.
Since Cusco is catering to visitors from around the world there are restaurants serving all types of food, but many try to put a Peruvian twist on their menus. One of my favorite - simple Peruvian meals - is saltado which is a stir fry of small strips of beef, vegetables and potato. It is usually served on a small plate which means you get just enough or there is room for dessert. A mid-morning breakfast of toast, fruit and coffee can also be very satisfying.
It is a bit disconcerting for some foreigners, but alpaca is often on the menu in the form of a burger or in a saltado dish. I tried it and can report it has a taste and texture similar to beef.
Cusco is worth getting lost in. It has many of the mainstays of any tourist town, but it represents the history and modern day reality of Peruvian culture well. I think the best way to discover it is to simply wander around from one turn to the next. It is big enough to offer a day full of surprises, but not so big that you can't find your way back to wherever you started.
© Dean Pagani 2020
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© Dean Pagani 2020