Cusco, Peru

Cusco is a great jumping off point for Machu Picchu and other adventures. The city itself is surprisingly beautiful. It's full of old, well-maintained buildings with red tile roofs. The main square is pedestrian-only and full of cute shops and locals selling “original” prints and massages. Cusco is famous for its rainbow trout ceviche which did not disappoint. As the city is at an altitude of 3400m (11,200ft) and full of very steep streets, we definitely felt out of breath the majority of the time we were here.

We went on a day trip to the famous Montaña de Siete Colores (Rainbow Mountain). As the mountain sits at a whopping 5200m (17,000 ft) we loaded up on cocoa leaf tea before - a Peruvian altitude sickness trick that packs a kick and makes your lips tingle. As we heard from friends that the hike is a killer at that altitude, we opted to ride horses up. This turned out to be a fun adventure in itself. We rode past beautiful landscapes and grazing llamas. The local men led our horses up the mountain in sandals, amazing as it was snowing! We still had to hike up the steepest parts of the trails to give the horses a break. When we made it to the top, we saw the beautiful multi-colored mountains. We enjoyed the view for awhile and then headed down the mountain to get out of the cold and back to a more reasonable altitude!Read more