Cusco, Peru

So I´ve been in Peru for a week now and I LOVE IT. Cusco and everything around it is by far the most impressive thing I´ve seen.

I flew in the evening from Quito to Lima with LAN. Maybe because of the in flight magazine with beautiful pictures, maybe the red wine from Chile, the woolen blankets or leather seats, but I became a LAN fan. In Lima it took me an hour and a half to go through the border. I knew I´ve arrived to a popular tourist destination. The officer was super nice, entrance stamp on the¨"used" page. I said I want to spend at least 30 days in Peru. He smiled at me and gave me 90 days! At 1 am I bought one-way ticket to Cusco for the first flight with LAN at 5:15 am. Twenty four hours after leaving Galapagos I stepped out in a freezing cold Cusco.

Since then the time flew by. I think I wandered each street of Cusco, up and down, from the main square of Plaza de Armas to bohemian area of San Blas, from the most touristic streets to the remote corners of the city where locals greet you out of surprise. I am definitely in love. Not the garbage, floods of tourists, street vendors of silver, pictures and postcards can spoil my impression. I am not surprised Cusco is so touristic. It is absolutely worth it.


Plaza de Armas


Narrow streets of Cusco


Panorama
I finally don´t have any schedule to stick to. I don´t need to be anywhere at any time. I am taking my time to explore Cusco and Sacred Valley.

Besides hiking up and down narrow streets of Cusco, shopping for woolen hats and socks, I got a private horse riding tour of the Huatanay Valley. I got green hills, inka temples, sheep, black pigs, local folks, small canyons.



The following day I took a bus to the ruins furthest away from Cusco (11 km) - Tambomachay - and just hiked back to the city along the road or through the forest. The following day I climbed back up to see the closest and the most impressive ruins - Sacsayhuamán (or how foreigners say it "sexy woman").



Today I returned from a 4 day hike to Machu Picchu on Inka trail. This expedition deserves a special post.

Tomorrow I am headed for Pisaq for Sunday market. I will spend 3 days to explore the Sacred Valley even though a typical tour rushes through the sites during a day. After that I am going for a 3 day white water rafting trip on Rio Apurimac. I heard it is one of the best rafting in South America. The trip is quite challenging with level 3 and 4 rapids. Given I´ve been screaming at level 1 rapid in Pennsylvania, I am sure I will have quite an adrenaline rush.