Cusco, Peru

Cusco, the city that almost took my husband from me on our honeymoon and the city where buying oxygen inhalers from the pharmacy is the norm, we fell in love with you.

At approximately 11000 ft above sea level, the air is thin and oxygen is scarce but that did not stop us from enjoying it to the fullest, although we did end up at the hospital over night and I will tell you the full story later!

Cusco definitely deserves at least 5 days because on the first day all you should do is rest! TRUST ME, don't do anything except for eat and rest. Your lungs need time to acclimate to the altitude. We only had 4 days in Cusco and we lost a whole day due to our hospital stay, another day was spent in Machu Picchu, so in total we only had 2 days in this beautiful city so we did not get to see everything. Our plan was to visit the sacred Valley on day 2 and then Machu Picchu on day 3, but we ended up missing the Sacred Valley due to altitude sickness.

Plaza de Armas

While in Cusco it will be hard to miss Plaza de Armas as it is the main square of the city. In the plaza there were many restaurants, shops, local art vendors, a market, and many people enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the main sites in the Plaza is the Cusco Cathedral which took 100 years to build; construction finished in 1654.

You will see many women dressed up in traditional colorful dresses. They are very open to taking pictures but just make sure you leave them a little tip!

Walking around the City

Cusco has a lot of culture, beautiful cobble stone roads, unique architecture, and steep hills. It's nice to walk around to witness the personality of the city. While walking, take it easy, walk slow, make sure you have water available, and take many breaks and enjoy the local Coca Tea (Tea made from the Coca leaves). If you have Asthma or other lung conditions stay away from Coca teal as there small traces of cocaine present in coca leaves which can make the condition worse. You are already going to have a hard time breathing, so skip the tea! (we learned this the hard way too).

The Acclimation tour

In order to fully enjoy our first day we decided to take an "Acclimation Tour" on a bus to visit

Sacsayhumán and Tambomachay.

Sacsayhuamán

Our first stop on this tour was to Sacsayhumán, which is a citadel on the northern outskirts of Cusco. It is knows to be the historic capital of the Inca Empire. To build the citadel, the workers carefully cut the boulders to fit them together tightly without mortar. The site is at an altitude of 12,142 ft.

Q'enco

Q'enco was our second stop on this tour and the guide explained that its was a holy place where sacrifices were made. When we got there, we had to walk through some really narrow rocks where only one person fits at a time. Then we arrive to this small cave like rock formation where they had a sacrificial stone, which was extremely cold to the touch. On this stone was where Llamas were sacrificed during specific festivals by the Incas. Due to the formation of the rocks I don't have the best pictures from inside the cave (check out my video on Cusco and you will see the sharp turns) but there is a wonderful view of Cusco on the other side.

Tambomachay, The Inca baths.

Our third stop on the tour was Tambomachay. This site is located at 8km from the city of Cusco , at 3700 meters above the sea level. Tambomachay is better known as El Bano del Inca, or “The Bath of the Inca,” because it is thought to have been a place to bath in attempt to clean the mind and spirit of evil. Legend has it that the spring water here has never run dry, sparking the belief that it is also a possible “fountain of youth.”

Our final stop, we were feeling really bad. I barely took any pictures and Gabriel was out waiting on the bus to get down from this 15000ft.

So they called it an "Acclimation tour"...but it definitely was not!

We had been instructed, by many people who had visited Cuzco before us, to take it easy on the first day. Cuzco's Altitude is much higher than those that are typical for us humans to function normally. Coming from Florida, with an altitude of 0 to 11,000 ft. is not easy.

We didn't want our first day to go to waste, so while walking around in Plaza de Armas, I found a tour called "Acclamation Tour." Now, I am not one to take bus tours, ever but this sounded so good! The bus would take us to a few important sites around Cuzco for a good price, and we did not have to walk. What they failed to mention was that we would eventually make it to 15000 ft above sea level, which is extremely hard for the first day, especially if you are coming from a city that is at sea level.

We were not feeling that well to begin with. I was a little light headed and had to continuously take deep breaths to feel okay but Gabriel (my husband) was having some chest pains and was feeling terrible by the time we made it half way up on the tour. He got way worse and we couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough.When we got to the hotel, the receptionist called a doctor for us who came to the hotel. The doctor that arrived seemed to be a very serious indigenous woman. Upon her arrival she listened to his heart and with a very monotone voice and serious face said two things. "Do you have a family history of heart conditions?" and "You need to go to the hospital." As we waited for the ambulance to arrive, Gabriel and I were quite anxious. I was not sure what was going in and I learned later that he thought he was dying and thought it would be the last time he would see me. This was by far one of the scariest experiences I have ever been in.

Long story short, Gabriel ended up in the hospital that night and needed oxygen and steroids through an IV to open up his lungs. The hospital nurses and doctors were amazing! Their attention to Gabriel's condition was the best I had ever experienced. They constantly came into the room, checked on him and informed us of everything that they were doing. The next morning, the doctor came in to talk to us and explained how common this is and that he was going to give him medication so we can make our way to Machu Picchu. At this point, we had made the decision that we would cut our trip short and go back home and we were very nervous to take any risk after this incident. The doctor reassured us and told us all will be well with the medication and the fact that Machu Pichhu's altitude is not as high, so we went (Check out my blog on Machu Picchu).

What was really surprising was that the ambulance ride, the night in the hospital, the medications, and everything together for this emergency cost us a whooping $70! we were in disbelief. With the amount of care we were provided I was extremely scared that it would be in the thousands of dollars...$70!

The interesting foods of Cuzco

Okay, so in the picture to the right, you might see some sort of leg. This is called Cuy (pronounced Kuwee) a traditional guinea pig dish. That's right, guinea pig. At first thought, I did not want to try this but I knew I would regret it if I had made it all the way to Peru without trying this delicacy. The oven you see on the right hand side is the one used to cook this dish. It was an interesting dish and I don't think I would have it again. At first, it tastes like chicken but it has an after taste that was not very good. Some people say that we may have tried it at the wrong place, and that may be so, but I am fine without it.

This restaurant was located in Plaza de Armas on the second level. We ate here as soon as we got out of the hospital and truly enjoyed sitting in this restaurant because of the window looking out into the city. The food was delicious as well. I had Lomo Saltado (on the right), which is sirloin with tomatoes, peppers, and onions, with a side of rice and potatoes.

Pisco Sour

A traditional liquor in Peru is Pisco. The drink above was called Pisco Sour which includes pisco, lemon, simple syrup, and egg whites.

The best meal we had was by far our Christmas Eve dinner at Inka Grill. After coming back from Machu Picchu, this pace was perfect. Located right in Plaza de Armas, it was conveniently located, the food was AMAZING, and the service was wonderful. The pricing was extremely affordable as well!

Hotel

We stayed at Don Bosco Hotel which was extremely close, just on top of the hill from Plaza De Armas. The hotel seemed like a convent that was turned into a hotel, it has a very old feel to it. The views from the rooms were amazing and they had a full breakfast! They also provided coca tea whenever you wanted to help cope with the Altitude sickness.

On the weekend Plaza de Armas has a huge market that takes over the square. We definitely enjoyed walking around the market and getting a few things for our family and friends. I also got to buy an alpaca sweater for a good price.