Favorite Corners - Cusco

Cusco, known as the navel and capital city of the Inca world, and one of the highest places we’ve ever been. To put things into context, the Rocky Mountain city of Banff sits at 1,397 meters above sea level. Machu Picchu is at the top of a mountain and sits at 2,430 meters. And then there’s Cusco, sitting even higher than both of those places at 3,400 meters. The air is much thinner and dryer, so we had to take it easy our first few days which was very hard because there is much to see and do here.

The heart of Cusco is the Plaza de Armas. Lined with shops and restaurants, populated with benches and gardens, surrounded by amazing colonial architecture, it checks all the boxes of a really great main square.

This is the Cusco Cathedral, one of the main eye-catchers in the Plaza.

There are actually a number of other churches bordering the plaza as well, but keep in mind, that everything here was built over an already existing Inca city.

Qorikancha is the best example of a Spanish church atop Inca ruins. The name means “Golden Courtyard” and it was said that this Inca landmark was covered entirely in gold.

This is Cusco (or Qosqo as the Quechua called it) before the Spanish came. It was built in the shape of a puma with the Plaza de Armas (back then called Huacaypata) as the heart and Sacsayhuaman as the head. The back and front were bordered by two rivers which are now buried.

Cusco is a UNESCO World Heritage site and, as such, the existing colonial architecture and buildings are protected. However, that makes it harder to excavate the Inca ruins underneath the city. This is the only place in the city that is allowed to be excavated.

We got treated to some really amazing ceremonial music. Musical instruments included condor feathers, goat hooves, and slide whistles made from ceramic pots and water.

Can you tell which side the Spanish built and which side the Incas built?

A really big long climb up staircases and through alleyways brings us to the highest site in Cusco, the Cristo Blanco. It’s right next to Sacsayhuaman, so to prevent multiple climbs, it may be a good idea to do both in the same day (unlike us).

Cusco is a dog city. They run around in little dog gangs all throughout the streets. For the number of dogs here, they streets are quite clean, but do watch your step.

This is an alpaca, famous for their soft wool and their adorably cute faces!

There’s lots here, including the crowds, at the San Pedro market. They sell pretty much everything a shop-a-holic tourist would want to buy, from food to clothing to household goods to toys.

The San Blas area is a pretty little area known as the artist’s district.

Some really amazing painters have studios here where you can walk in and check out their work.

We usually post food pics, but we rarely, if ever post pics of the restaurants that we eat in. However, we had to make an exception in Cusco because the restaurants here have a personality all their own!

Another neat restaurant interior with a stunning view (see next picture).

eating ceviche + drinking tea + gorgeous view = perfect day

Good night, Cusco! We will miss you!