Cusco - Gateway to Machu Picchu

I finally have good WiFi in Peru.  I just checked into the Doubletree Hotel in Lima because I was so tired of staying at "half-assed" hotels that have WiFi that barely works and bathrooms that don't have hot-water.  I decided to splurge on my last 3 days in Peru and South America and booked a room at the centrally-located Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Lima.

Ok.  Enough griping.  You may be surprised to be reading about Cusco rather than 2 other stops that I made before coming here.  I am skipping over La Paz, Bolivia, and Puno, Peru, for now because I want to write about the hike on the Inca Trail before I forget a lot of the details.  The hike itself took four days, ending with the well-known Machu Picchu site.  However, most hikes or visit to Machu Picchu start in Cusco.

Cusco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the southeastern part of Peru.  We took a 7-8 hour bus journey from Puno to Cusco and checked into the Hotel Cahuide.  Like most of the Tucan hotels where we've stayed, this is a modest 2-3 star hotel.  It is located about a 5-minute walk from the main square, Plaza de Armas.  Around the plaza are all the tourist shops and restaurants, catering to tourists that are using Cusco as a jumping-off point to Machu Picchu.  Cusco was the historic capital of the Incas before the Spanish conquest.

Plaza de Armas (Plaza of Arms), the main square

A cup of cafe con leche and pan y huevo.  Coffee w/ cream and bread with egg for 5 soles.

Peru-themed fabric

Mercado San Pedro, where you find all kinds of businesses

A mix of shops in the market

Selling grains, including quinoa, which sells for 8 soles (about US$2.50) per kilo

Even a Chinese restaurant

This one specializes in breakfast but it's more like a coffee shop

The food section of the market

A man using a manual sewing machine

Selling churros outside the market

A church outside San Pedro Market

One of the busy pedestrian streets

Hotel Cahuide

In Cusco you find many businesses catering to the tourists - from booking tours to different parts of Peru, to outdoor equipment and clothing, restaurants, money changers, etc.  You find tourists from all over the world - lots of them at the Plaza de Armas, the main square, museums, and restaurants.  They are either getting ready to visit Machu Picchu or just returned from there.

A lot of the locals conduct their businesses at the Mercado San Pedro, a local market.  It is a big market that has just about everything.  You can buy souvenirs of all types here, fruit juices, meat market, food court, spices, etc.  It's an interesting mix of businesses under one roof.  I visited this market on our second trip to Cusco, after hiking the Inca Trail.  I am glad I visited the market because I was so tired after the hike and I had to flip-flopped around town because my shoes were being washed.  I enjoy checking out the businesses - what they sell and how much they sell them for. I bought a few wooden spatulas that I am planning to give away.  You see pictures of some of the businesses above.  They have a food court here that caters mostly to the locals, at local prices.  You can get most of the meals for under 10 soles, or about US$3.  However, their hygiene is suspect because I don't see anyone using hot-water to sanitize the dirty dishes.  I was tempted to eat some of the food but my stomach wasn't feeling good that afternoon.  I settled for a cafe con leche and a pan y huevo, or coffee with milk and bread with egg.  It's interesting how the lady served me the cafe con leche.  She gave me a glass of milk and pointed to a small jug with black liquid.  It turns out that the small jug contains coffee syrup, so essentially, you add the syrup to the milk to make coffee with milk.  The whole shebang costs 5 soles or about $1.70.

Cusco has some very nice restaurants.  The first night we were there we went to a Cafe Morena, a contemporary restaurant serving excellent Peruvian food.  The price of an entree was about 40 soles or about US$12, not expensive but expensive by Peruvian standards.  The next evening we went to a restaurant/hotel called Fallen Angel, a contemporary restaurant and a boutique hotel.  The prices here are slightly higher.  We were there to celebrate the birthday of one of our fellow travelers, Nick.

Celebrating a birthday at Fallen Angel

On our second trip back to Cusco, after hiking the Inca Trail, we stayed 2 nights.  When we arrived we found that the hotel has no water.  Why?  Because somehow electricity was cut-off to the pump that pumps water to the hotel.  We were told there would be water in an hour.  So we went to dinner.  After that, there was still no water.  We were told again there'd be water in an hour.  We had not showered for four days on the Inca Trail.  Some of us decided that we could not wait anymore.  We were given the option to go to a sister hotel to shower.  I did.  I felt clean and fresh after that.  It turned out to be a good decision because when we returned to the hotel, we were told that there'd not be water until the morning.  I am glad I decided to take a shower at the other hotel.  Now I can go to sleep feeling clean.