PERU: Part One – Cusco

By: MJ + PJ

We spent a month in Peru. It is simply impossible to fit everything we did in Peru into one post, so we are splitting it up into several, these being: 

1. 1. Cusco (this post)
   2. The Sacred Valley and Inca Sites
   3. Machu Picchu
   4. Lake Ttitcaca
   5. Ausangate Trek and Rainbow Mountain

There were many interesting things we experienced in the high altitude city of Cusco. This post recounts just a smattering of the entertaining and educational experiences we had. For cost reference, the exchange rate at the time of our visit was about three sol to the USD.

DUPED! Cusco welcomed us with a rough start, but it quickly made up for it. After landing we got our bags and a porter “recognized us” and was expecting us so helped us with our luggage. Some hotels include airport transfer. This turned out to be not true and simply a way for an airport employee (!) to deliver a passenger to his taxi and tour guy who could take us into town for s/40. We needed cash so got it, but then had to convert it as it was issued from the ATM in USD. In the meantime we found out that s/15 was the going taxi rate into town. Long story short: split the difference at s/30 but only had USD$5 (s/16) for a groveling porter. Of course the driver did not have change for a s/50 so we had to burst into the hotel desk and ask for change, which was obtained 3 doors down at a tiny store. We needed water anyhow. Duped! Lesson learned! All in the space of the first 30 minutes. Hola Cusco! What the…?

HOT WATER? If your hotel does not have hot water, then ask. Then they may turn it on. Before that though, you can let either the right tap or the left tap run – your guess as to which one is hot – for about 5-10 minutes… depending on what floor your room is on. Alternatively you can just embrace having a cold shower, which is character building or something.

THERE’S A DOG! From the point of departing the airport forward, AJ pointed out every dog in Cusco. And every cat. Enthusiastically. To his less than enthused parents. If you have been to Cusco, you probably have some idea why this paragraph is significant.

FIREWORKS! These cats and dogs that were pointed out must be very tolerant of fireworks. We heard all types of pyrotechnics at all times of day and night. 7am, 4pm, in the evening, and in the middle of the night. This is normal, and we had read that “Peruvians really like their fireworks – at any time of day or night”. There’s not much risk of anything catching fire in Cusco – there’s barely any trees in town. (The flip side of this is that the exhaust fumes and air quality in this hilly city can be overbearing.)

PUSHERS! This city is busy and there are always people around. Some friends noted that they had instances of drug pushers approaching them while they were in Cusco a few years ago. We did not encounter this, but that is probably a result of having a child in tow all the time. Expect to have goods and tours and massages pushed incessantly on you in the tourist areas (surprise!), meaning Plaza de Armas. Most streets outside the Centro Historico have less pushy people going about their daily lives. On a side note: We had read that the local crime penalty is apparently tripled if committed against a foreigner. Regardless, we felt quite safe in Cusco compared to many areas in Rio.

HOSTAL! Our initial hotel was booked for two nights (USD$45/night) halfway between the city and airport. The plan was to arrive, get oriented and then find a deal. Our first full day we found a tourist agent, of which there must be at least another 2000. She pointed us towards a quiet family friendly hostal, a 5 min walk from Plaza de Armas, and with amenities similar to a basic hotel. We took one of the matrimony rooms for a week which had a private bath and two beds, for USD$28/night. On the overnight stay at Aguas Calientes we simply stored our luggage in the Hostel. We came and went to this hostal over the next month, practically becoming part of their family (or furniture).

LAUNDRY! Let’s talk about getting your laundry done. Before we left Igausu Falls in Brazil we calculated that to do all our laundry (itemized there) would cost us about USD$30-40. We figured we could wait for Cusco, as online searches showed prices were quoted as about s/5-10 (USD$2-3) per kg. The hotel we started at we paid USD$18 for about 8kg (18lb) at a rate of s/8 per kg, while the hostal consistently cost us s/4 per kg. We have concluded that hotel based laundry services in the US are clearly subsidizing something else.

MUSEUMS! The tourist ticket we purchased included entry to 16 locations. Our rest day after seeing Machu Pichu included seeing four museums (briefly but only due to their small size), in four hours. With children, these museums were a great size – not something that takes too long, yet very informative and specific to the region. There is a distinct contrast in the history perspectives (Inca vs Spanish Catholicism) on offer in Cusco, with the museums bringing these into a strong light. 

CORN! On the way back to the hostel one evening we grabbed some of the hot large kernel corn on the cob off a street vendor for dinner, and then laid low for the evening. We also became well acquainted with Inca Corn, which makes quite a good snack as long as you don’t hit one of your fillings. 

PHOTOS! We had not even been in Peru for a week when one evening included what we will call an ‘Inca gold’ conversation. This will give you an idea of how much there is to see locally. PJ: “I’m going to work on the Peru album photos.”  MJ: “Why? Its a bit early?”  PJ: “We have like 1800 photos.” MJ: “We’ve only been here 5 days!”

MARKETS! AJ got a few lessons in negotiating prices for items while in Cusco. He managed to buy about 5 items that he wanted from local vendors, getting a reasonable price on all of them. MJ and PJ also got some repetitive practice, having had limited experience with market based sales. Where the custom is to haggle, you should read up on the rules!

PARADES! These Peruvians like to have a parade. We must have seen about eight of them while here. The first few parades were all pretty big, and then we thought it was over for the month. But then a few days later we’d stumble across another one on the streets of Cusco, then another one. You can’t miss them – noisy brass and swirling color fill a street, and can last for ten minutes to an hour or so. If you see one of these parades, the herd gets your attention, but pay attention to the individuals… and what they carry or how they express themselves. It’s great street entertainment, that’s for sure. And if someone pins something on your chest you’d better refuse or else pay up.

In summary, we found the Cusco area has more to do and see than the average tourist location. A visit could be reasonably expensive if you came only for the ‘main event’ of Machu Picchu. We decided to spread our visit out over at least two weeks, with this eventually becoming four. The main limiting variable on our radar was that if you are in Peru longer than 59 days you start getting taxed heavily. Our longer stay enabled us to see many of the Inca structures in the area, keep the foot off the travel accelerator, and get a good feel for the region and the people. See our other Peru posts listed above!