Before you get to travel to Machu picchu you have to get to Cusco, which is why it’s called the gateway to Machu Picchu.
The adventure continues
We had only been to Peru for less than 48 hours and we had already seen alien created art, ruins in the middle of Lima, seals, penguins, an oasis, a desert and rode on a buggy. All of this but our adventure had just started.
(Check out Happy birthday from Peru if you haven’t and then continue reading 🙂
Lima 9PM
As we got back to Lima from Ica, we decided to go out and see the city at night. It’s been one of the most impressive night sceneries I’ve seen in my entire life. We took a moment to think about what was awaiting for us in Cusco as we gazed over the night sky, then headed back to our hostel to get ready for our morning flight the following morning.
Finally in Cusco
As soon as we got to Cusco we headed to Plaza de Armas, which is the center of Cusco and where you can find guided tours around the city.
One thing you will always hear when heading to Cusco is the height sickness you might experience which can turn bad. Neither me and Manuel suffered from it at all but I would definitively recommend having medicine ready in case you suffer from it.
We hung out a bit at the Plaza de Armas as we waited for the tour guide who would guide us through and around the City. The first stop of our walking tour was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, Coricancha.
We were so lucky our tour guide was a university professor and knew every detail about the Inca culture and history. As you can see in the following video, he is super fluent on the Inca language.
Amazing ruins
Our second stop during our tour was a citadel on the northern outskirts of Cusco called Saqsaywaman. It was astonishing to see such a huge structure built by hand. According to our guide all the stones were dragged using ropes by hundreds of men.
Into the fountains of youth
Since we didn’t have too much time, we only spent about 45 minutes appreciating the perfect mix between the human stone structure and the nature surrounding it. Our next stop was a fountain of youth. Before we got there we intercepted my favorite animal (the llama) along the way.
The walk between the llamas and the youth fountain was quite challenging as we were currently at 4K meters of above the sea. Apparently the higher we go the hardest it is to do any physical motion (which includes hiking). Thankfully we survived the small trail without puking and were able to be delighted by what promised to keep us young forever.
It was too cold for us to drink the water so we decided to give a pass to the waters of youth… We probably wont live forever but we were excited and looking forward for our next destination on our trip. El Valle sagrado.
To be continued…
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