High in Cusco

Cusco, Peru
13.5320°S, 71.9675°W

Every time someone has asked Sarah or me what our favorite destination has been this year, we give the same answer. Usually, it’s something along the lines of….

“It’s really hard to say, every place has been so different and unique in its own way.”

It’s a terrible non-answer, but it really has been hard to name one city or town or country as our favorite. There have been certain things about certain places that have really stood out for us: the food in Hoi An; the ocean views in Cape Town; and the street food in Cha-am. But trying to name one place we liked the most has been a difficult decision for us to make. That is until we arrived in Cusco.

While we still have six weeks of this trip left, and we don’t see any reason why we won’t really like Chile and Argentina, the city of Cusco had us both from day one. The only thing we didn’t like about Cusco was that its altitude makes it difficult to breathe, which, given the importance of that bodily function to our survival should provide an indication of how much there is to love about Cusco.

In no particular order, these are the three things that made Cusco our favorite place we’ve visited.

1. The Food

A noted in our previous post about the Inca Trail, we had some of the best food of our lives while trekking through the Andes without electricity. Beyond that, every meal we had in Cusco was memorable. From the local pollerias serving only chicken and fries to the ceviche restaurants and the lomo saltado (beef, veggies, rice) served at counters at the local markets for about $3.00, everything was fresh and delicious.

Cusquenas are particularly known for a dish called Cuy. You can’t leave Cusco without trying Cuy, so Sarah and I found a highly recommended place called Kusikuy to try it out.

If it’s unclear from the pictures (and it shouldn’t be), Cuy is guinea pig. It’s typically served roasted or fried with corn and potatoes. It tastes a bit like rabbit and we both really liked it, although we’re not sure it’s a dish available anywhere in the United States. Cuy is very important to Cusquenos, and is typically only served for big celebrations, such as birthdays, weddings, or when two gringo tourists walk into a restaurant. There is a famous 18th-century painting in Cusco’s cathedral that depicts the last supper, and in the middle of the table is the main course, which (you guessed it) is Cuy.

Guinea pig wasn’t the only new food we tried in Cusco. Another dish on nearly every menu is alpaca meat, which I tried a few times and really liked, but Sarah couldn’t get into it because of all of the cute alpacas roaming the streets of Cusco with their owners and being pimped out for photoshoots with tourists.

In addition to eating cute animals, the Peruvians also excel at making amazing ceviche, the country’s national dish. In Cusco, the fish most commonly used is trout. Sarah and I ended up taking a cooking class with The Ceviche Experience to learn how to make the local ceviche, as well as Peru’s national drink the Pisco Sour.

Our Airbnb was located right around the corner from the San Blas Market, which was much smaller than Cusco’s massive San Pedro Market, but still had great produce and a handful of counters to order lunch. We had some great meals in both markets and loved walking around the San Blas neighborhood in between meals.

2. Outdoor Activities

The climate is Cusco is pretty mild, especially outside of the summer months when it can be a little warmer. The mildness of the weather makes for great conditions for outdoor activities, such as cycling or running, but we avoided anything too strenuous since we weren’t used to living at an altitude that nearly 5,000 feet higher than the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

We did, however, take advantage of some less strenuous outdoor activities, including renting ATVs to go visit the natural salt pools outside of the city and a horse ride to visit some of Cusco’s ancient temples.

3. History

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire, which in its heyday covered much of modern-day Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina. It was the most important city for the Incas, and as such the history of the city spans centuries before and after the arrival of the Spanish. The area has been consistently occupied for more than 3,000 years and it is still known as the cultural capital of Peru (some argue its the most important cultural city in all of South America).

The churches in Cusco, a few of which are built on top of Incan Temples, were some of the most of elaborately designed and decorated buildings I have ever seen.

Underlying all of this amazing food, fun activities and rich history is the absolutely wonderful people we encountered in Cusco and throughout Peru. Even with the language barrier, nearly everyone we met was extremely friendly, welcoming and helpful when we had questions. We were really glad we decided to spend extra time in Cusco, and while we were sad to leave we still had a lot to look forward to on our trip through South America. We left Cusco for Lima, where we would stay for three days before heading south to Chile for Christmas.