Cusco

Cusco, which lies on 3400m, was once the capital of the Inka empire before it was captured by the Spanish. What we found in Cusco is a mix of Inka remains, spanish colonial architecture and a big tourist influence (reflected by colourful alpaca and souvenir shops and fancy restaurants) - a combination which we truly loved! Due to the citys prettyness, richness in museums, good food and the many inka ruins surrounding Cusco we stayed a full of 17 days there (minus the 5 days of the Salkantay trek): a record number of days in the same place on our travels which we will certainly not be able to beat anymore! 😄
It was the perfect place for getting to know the Inka culture better while strolling the oh-so-pretty cobblestone streets (how we missed them 🥹) and indulging in local foods and crafts. Especially at night, when the lights on the inhabited hills surrounding the city center shone, it seemed like the city had its own star-lit night sky - an unparalelled view ❤️
During our stay we enjoyed both the more local area (with menus of a soup and a second plate for 7 soles - roughly 2 USD) as well as the famous, trendy and very sprouced up San Blas area (20 soles/ 5.6 USD for a soup alone 🙃) and both were very lovely - despite the very dirty and half-rotten apartment we ‘spoiled’ ourselves with in San Blas (note to ourselves: Airbnb is no good). Also, we met up with Lisa and Tobi again, this time with one more new friend of theirs (and now of us) Britta - what’s better than Cusco on your own? You guessed it, Cusco in awesome company!
Next to simply enjoying ourselves, we used Cusco as a base for several daytrips to explore (pre)inkan ruins as well as for the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. As always, every trip has to get its own footprint - prepare yourself for the upcoming bunch of big stones, awesome ruins and some more trekking pictures! 😉Read more