Monday, July 23, 2012

South America Travel Diary: Cusco (Peru)

The travelogue is continued from the previous post..

After resting for 2 nights in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and also its Business capital, we headed towards Machu Pichu, the main highlight of our trip. But it was still a long way to reach there! After about 6 hours of flight we reached Cusco, via Lima. There is no direct way to reach Machu Pichu. You have to either trek from Cusco or take a train to the base of the mountain and bus to the top.


Plaza de Armas

Cusco (or Cuzco) is a small city in Peru in the south eastern part and at one point it was the historical capital of the Inca Empire. It was also declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983 and it's also the historical capital of Peru. It's a very small & laid back town (I wouldn't even call it a city). There are cobble stone streets, not even proper roads. It is quite filthy and looks very ancient. Since we went in the winter time, it was super chilly! If you have to see Machu Pichu, you have to go there when it is winter in the base, so it is not raining at the mountain top. Hence we had no choice but to bear the cold! We stayed in Hotel Terra Andina which was extremely posh compared to the city standards! Their service was superior and the food was good too. I highly recommend this place if you are visiting Cusco.




Even though it is very touristy, there wasn't much to see in the city itself. Visited their famous Cathedral, Iglesia del Triunfo which was a short walk from the hotel and got a short glimpse of the city's Plaza de Armas, the main central square. The cathedral is supposed to look very beautiful in the night under the lights but we were too tired to stay up as we had an early morning train. The cathedral is known for a Cuzco School painting of the Last Supper depicting Jesus and the 12 apostles feasting on guinea pig.




This image below is courtesy google. Just wanted to put it up here to show the panoramic beauty capturing the cathedrals and the Plaza together.



And wherever you go, there seems to be a "Bata" store :-) I was suprised to see it in a city as small and remote as Cusco!!




Cusco is a necessity on your itinerary if you plan to visit Machu Pichu. It's a good way to break your journey and stay over, but not much to do there.

2 comments:

Alex Quinn 82 said...

Peru seems to have a lot of history and natural beauty with it. The opportunity to explore the Inca Empire and Machu Pichu seems very surreal. The last time I went to South America, I took one of the Chile Patagonia tours , which guided us all across the area. Glaciers,mountains,and an abundance of wildlife is some of the beauty you will see there. The highlight of my trip was definitively the whale watching. Truly a trip of a lifetime.

Unknown said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing Alex. I did not know there was whale watching in Chile. I visited Chile too but only Santiago and Valpraiso and nearby. Machu Pichu was the highlight of the trip and that will be my next post :) Keep visiting!