Cusco (1,2)

Legend tells that in the 12th century, the sun god Inti looked down on the earth and decided that the people needed organizing, so he created the first Inca, Manco Cápac, and his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo. They came to life on Isla del Sol (Sun Island), way over in Lake Titicaca, with a long walk ahead of them. Inti gave Manco Cápac a golden rod and told him to settle in the spot where he could plunge it into the ground until it disappeared: this would be the navel of the earth (qosq’o in the Quechua language). And so Cuzco got its name. Locals can point out the place where the rod allegedly went in – it’s on a hill overlooking the bus
terminal.
Most South American cities have a merry, hectic street energy; in Cuzco it’s overwhelming. Walk through the Plaza de Armas and you’ll see people hawking massages, finger puppets, paintings and tattoos – it’s not for the
fainthearted. This is one of the most relentlessly tourist dominated towns on the face of the earth, and unless you make the effort to get a few blocks (that’s all it
takes) away from the madness of the Plaza, you may find yourself feeling like a walking ATM.
That’s about the only downside. Despite a tidal wave of tourism and massive immigration from the provinces over the last couple of decades, and the years of terrorism before that, Cuzco is a relatively safe place with decent infrastructure and a lovable population of dauntless entrepreneurs ranging from singing shoeshine boys to flamboyant nightclub magnates.Leia mais