By admin No visit to Peru would be complete without a few days in Cusco. The ancient capital of the Incas, Cusco is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring a fascinating combination of Inca heritage clashing, then integrating, with Spanish colonialism. We planned our stay in Cusco for the end of our Peru trip; located at a heady 11,200 feet, it was the highest altitude of any of our destinations (aside from day hikes), and we aimed to acclimate to Peru’s dramatic elevation gains gradually over time.
Getting to Cusco and Staying at Antigua Casona San Blas
We originally arrived in Cusco via a LATAM flight from Lima before making a beeline for the Sacred Valley for a few days, where we had an incredible stay with Explora Valle Sagrado. Instead of using our included return transfer to head back to the airport, we asked Explora to drop us off at our new accommodations in Cusco, the Antigua Casona San Blas. While I had been eyeing a couple of other luxury properties, such as the Luxury Collection’s Palacio del Inka and the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, I loved the boutiquey feel of Antigua Casona, and the location in the artsy San Blas neighborhood.
After showering (we had gone from our last Sacred Valley hike to lunch at Explora to Cusco), we decided to hit the town for drinks and dinner.
A note about guinea pigs in Peru – they are a common food source, but also a common pet. Several of our guides had entertaining stories about their childhood pet guinea pigs. One decided to feed his pets a portion of watermelon that was apparently significantly over the recommended daily allowance for guinea pigs. His pets blew up like balloons, and the poor child worried that he had accidentally killed his beloved guinea pigs until the creatures peed all over the floor and shrank back to normal size. I don’t even want to think about how much guinea pig pea was produced.
Unfortunately, Karen had been battling nausea and digestive issues over the past few days, and was struggling once we got to the bar. At first we thought she might be dealing with mild food poisoning, or just a bad reaction to the local cuisine, but after a few days, we were pretty confident that the issue was altitude sickness. We decided to pull the plug on our night out and headed back to Antigua Casona, where Karen could relax in the room with some oxygen (yes, the hotel offered complementary oxygen for guests).
Walking Tour of Cusco
While there are many free/inexpensive group walking tours on offer in Cusco, our Explora guide Fredy connected us with his guide friend Hebert. Formerly employed by Explora, Hebert had recently returned to his hometown of Cusco and offered private tours of the city, as well as local guided hikes. Knowing the high standards for the Explora guiding staff, we decided to hire Hebert for a city tour of Cusco, as well as a guided Rainbow Mountain hike the following day. No regrets on either decision; Hebert was friendly, knowledgeable, and professional – everything we had come to expect with our expert Explora guides.
Our first stop was Coricancha. The most important temple in Inca history, the original version of Coricancha was mostly destroyed by the Spaniards shortly after their arrival in the sixteenth century. The Spanish later built a church over the remains of the temple. While several earthquakes destroyed much of the new structure, the original Inca base remains to this date, thanks to the Inca’s sophisticated system of using tightly interlocking stones to build long-standing walls.
Our next stop was the Cusco Cathedral, another site that had once been an Inca temple, but turned into a Catholic cathedral once the Spanish colonists arrived.
We walked through the cathedral, but weren’t able to take pictures, so I can’t share any visual details of the interior. It was a fascinating experience, however. While I had visited countless historical churches in Europe, this one felt a lot different. It featured a bunch of colonial artwork, and had clearly been decorated with the goal of converting the indigenous people to Catholicism (for example, incorporating traditional Incan symbols with Catholic symbols). Hebert told us that while the vast majority of Peruvians now identify as Catholic, they also still maintain some of the long-standing indigenous beliefs, weaving them into their customs and practices.
Next, we walked up the winding hills of the city toward Sacsayhuamán. Joking referred to as “Sexy Woman,” the hilltop fortress actually pre-dates the Incas, and was originally built by the Killke culture in the 12th century, then expanded upon by the Incas in the 13th century.
I’ll admit, we were all feeling the elevation (Sacsayhuamán is located at over 12,000 feet above sea level). Karen still wasn’t feeling 100%, but was doing an impressive job powering through the day. While Lauren and I weren’t necessarily feeling any symptoms from altitude sickness, we all felt winded as we walked the steep hills of Cusco.
After walking around Sacsayhuamán for an hour or so, we made plans with Hebert to meet at 5:30am the next morning so we could get a proper start on our Rainbow Mountain hike. Then we headed back to San Blas for a late lunch, sunset cocktails, and an early bedtime.
While Cusco, and San Blas in particular, seemed to have a bustling nightlife scene (especially with the hostel/backpacking crowd), we were disciplined and put ourselves to bed at a reasonable hour. The next day we had our final, most formidable hike yet: reaching 17k feet atop Rainbow Mountain, and we wanted to be as well-rested and prepared as possible.
