2017 Cusco

May 23, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

20/05/2017-23/06/2017 Cusco

We fell asleep in the desert and woke up 4000m above sea level in the mountains. After 14 hours on the coach we finally arrived in Cusco, and treated ourselves to a posh lunch overlooking the central square.

We spent our first day wandering round Cusco. Something we have loved about Peru is how diverse it is. Cusco is very mountainous and green. People dress traditionally here and there are lots of llamas. It is also very cold!!

We decided to be adventurous on our second day and do some via ferrata and zip lining. This involved climbing 400m up a cliff face, using ladders and steel girders, and then using 6 zip lines to get down. It was great fun.

That evening we went and had some more cerviche, and shared a bottle of wine.... we hadn't factored in the altitude and it went straight to our heads!! But was a lovely evening.

The following morning we got picked up at 3am to climb Rainbow Mountain. Rainbow mountain has its peak at around 5200m above sea level. We were told by lots of people that we were silly for attempting it on our 3rd day at altitude, and the chances of us completing it without the help of a horse were very slim. But, we did it! Although I think we can both agree it is probably the most physically challenging thing we have done. The altitude made it very difficult. It was worth it though. The pictures just don't do it justice, but the different colours of the rocks were spectacular.

As we reached the top of rainbow mountain, it started to snow. Which made the walk down slightly cold and wet!! But we were both very pleased with ourselves.

Today, we have been on a tour of the sacred valley. We have seen lots of Inca sites. Some of the sites were very well persevered and clearly showed how they were able to effectively farm at the side of a mountain. We also got to see an active salt mine, which was initiated by the Incas. It was a long day, but very interesting, and finished up with a briefing about our Salkantay Trek, which we are due to start tomorrow. We are both very excited about it!Read more