Cusco
We quickly realised in the first couple of weeks of travel [Melissa edit: or actually, my goal from the beginning was] that what we wanted from our adventure (what we really, really wanted) was the great outdoors (and a zig-a-zig-ahh). Cities could take a back seat to just spending some quality time with nature.
Cusco, however, felt different from the moment we arrived. Maybe it was the history that spills from every wall as you wander around the city, maybe it was excitement for the upcoming Inca Trail (there’s a whole other post about that), maybe it was the stunning mountains that surround the city. Cusco had real soul, and we quickly realised this was somewhere we Wannabe for a few days before moving on.
(Apologies for Spice Girls references, I’m on a 4 hour bus entertaining myself. I’ll Stop. Right now. Thank you very much. [Melissa edit: goodness])
A real highlight for me was the Inca architecture. Many walls are still standing from over 500 years ago (unlike much of the Spanish constructions which didn’t survive the several earthquakes here since). The huge grey bricks are sculpted to be the perfect fit for the next stone with no mortar between, sometimes creating fun patterns in the brickwork.
The ruins at Saqsayhuaman, overlooking the city, are similarly constructed, except with even bigger stones around 3 times my height. Stunning.
Cusco is also an excellent foodie destination, and as East Londoners we both quickly felt embarrassingly at home in San Blas, the Shoreditch of Cusco. Imagine the indigenous-art-gallery-cum-cacao-cafe Xapiri, an Indian/East Asian/Peruvian fusion restaurant Mullu (a good place to Spice up your Life), the Franco-Peruvian creperie La Bo’M and (if that wasn’t East London enough for you) a restaurant called Avocado where I had a burger with an avocado for a bun, served with avocado fries and an avocado stone tea (surely Too Much). We did also make it out of San Blas sometimes, and had a great time buying fresh juices, a huge selection of dried fruit and an alpaca sweater at the huge San Pedro market. Perhaps Melissa’s favourite discovery though was the peanut butter Snickers bar that we can’t get in the UK. She now has a stash. [Melissa: sadly decreasing as I’m averaging about one bar a day.]
The chocolate making workshop, the freshly made ice cream + colouring in cafe, the dramatic cathedral, the thin oxygen climbing rainbow mountain (highest I’ve been at 5,036m above sea level), the cheap massages and the deathly cold in every building at night will stay with us, but alas it’s time to move on. Lake Titicaca awaits.
[Melissa edit: for fear of over-glamourising these posts, I need to comment on the cold. It was really difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I adored Cusco, but as soon as the sun went in the temperature really dropped (think zero degrees), and of course this is exacerbated by the high altitude. The buildings are all built to keep heat out, which I’m sure is necessary in the warmer and rainy season, but it meant we were never comfortable inside, ever. None of the buildings have hot water in the bathrooms, let alone heating, and combined with the fact different districts in Cusco shut off the water for hours at a time at random so shower hours are unpredictable, there’s no way to warm up once you’re cold. I ended up wearing thermals in the daytime AND the nighttime, usually wearing tracksuit bottoms and a jumper over my pyjamas, and occasionally a woolly hat to try and get a few hours of sleep in between shivers.
Now I know I feel the cold more than most people but Jeremy was doing exactly the same. We struggled. Chatting to others in our hostels everyone had found the same, and somehow - just being used to it I suppose - all the locals never looked cold!]
