Cusco is the first major pit stop on the way up to legendary Machu Picchu. However, it’s much more than just a city people travel through. Cusco is an exceptionally beautiful and charming town located in the middle of the Andean Mountains where backpackers from all over the world come together. Cusco was my second stop on my 3-month trip around South America.
Getting to Cusco
We took a small plane to Cusco from Lima (Peru’s largest city) and immediately realized we were surrounded by backpackers and travelers of all ages eager to start their trek up to the lost city of Incas. Since this was my first international trip in over three years I forgot how travelers interacted with each other. It was as if the person they were talking to had all the answers, no matter who they were. Travelers are always so interested in meeting people, learning about people and listening to other backpackers’ insight into life and their travel stories. I remember the other American girls next to us on the plane asking the Aussies “What place in the world most inspires you?” It was time for me to put my free spirit foot forward and embrace the process. The process of travel and the process of meeting others from around the world and having those thought-provoking deep travel convos with one another. Cusco had no shortage of interesting eager travelers.
Located in the middle of the Andean Mountains, as you fly into Cusco all you see is green. The city itself is not only architecturally and visually endearing but also very inexpensive and jam-packed with fun activities and things to do. When you land in the teeny little airport you can catch a taxi for 4 Soles a person to town, that’s about $1.50! You get to town and your taxi can barely get through the crammed narrow streets. As you drive in you see markets, goats, llamas, produce, clothing, and authentic Peruvian wood and brick buildings dating back to the 1200s. We only had twenty-four hours in Cusco before our four-day jungle trek to Machu Picchu began. We were determined to get the most out of it. Our list of things to do included: get massages, shop, eat, get massages, eat, and get massages. Did I mention get massages?
For 20-50 Soles ($14-25) anywhere in Cusco you can get an hour-long massage. Amazing for those sore bodies passing through Cusco on their way back from climbing Machu Picchu. Although the location may have been a little questionable, like a room on top of a muggy market with no running water, no running toilet, and no windows, I found it kind of intriguing and adventurous. It was all part of the experience. We had talked about getting massages first thing after getting settled in town.
Lodging in Cusco
We threw our bags in our lockers at our fun and trendy hostel, Pariwana and were off to enjoy the city. As far as the Pariwana hostels go, I would definitely recommend these hostel for young travelers looking to meet other young travelers. Pariwana has a few hostels scattered throughout Peru and they’re known as being fun and decent places to stay!
Getting our Peruvian massages and shopping in Cusco
We walked a few steps outside our door to find several Peruvian woman offering massages. The first lady we saw approached us and kept saying prices over and over again to us. It took us about three seconds to look over the options and then we both nodded our heads yes. We were sold! For 40 Soles each ($14 USD) my friend Cory and I both got an hour-long reflexology massage with fancy local-made lotions. We were so content. Cusco was turning out to be very relaxing! 🙂
Like I said earlier, this massage room was in the upper level of a market. Funny enough the market turned out to be fabulous! We may have never found this market it if the lady hadn’t pulled us off the street to take us in to get our massages. This market was just tucked back in an alley off the main path. These types of hidden markets are everywhere in Cusco! They all carry alpaca furs, blankets, tapestries, sweaters, scarves, shoes, and everything else authentic from Peru you could ever want. We immediately went into in shopping mode. After a little bartering with the locals we realized that everything was pretty much priced the same. It was cheap. The sweaters about 30-45 Soles, scarves for around 15-25 Soles and 200+ for baby alpaca fur (the good stuff). After wandering around the town shopping for two hours we managed to get some great deals. I spent 75 Soles total for three alpaca items plus some little souvenir goodies, that’s about $30. I personally think I walked away with some great deals.
After losing track of time and being completely immersed in the shopping we realized it was almost four pm and we needed a little pick-me-up. Our friend told us about this old-world café only a few blocks from the main square, Jacks. We sat down and had some tasty cappuccinos. Juan, the barista working there laughed at our attempt to speak Spanish but then invited us to learn salsa later at this club in town, Mythology. I had never danced salsa before, but I knew if I was going to be offered free salsa dancing classes I wasn’t about to turn that down, no matter how stupid I was going to look.
Dinner and nightlife in Cusco
We went back to the hostel, showered, put on some salsa dancing clothes and left for the night. We ate a light dinner of salad and pasta at a cute Italian joint in the center of the town for 30 Soles. It was that or guinea pig. Just joking, they have plenty of options. Although the Italian food was great, I’m pretty disappointed I never got to try their local delicacy, guinea pig, haha kidding. I was actually pretty happy I was able to dodge that bullet. I didn’t want to chance not feeling well since we were getting ready to start our trek to Machu Picchu in the morning. After dinner, we were off to salsa!
Juan from the café said he would meet us right next to McDonalds and take us in the club. Well we waited about thirty minutes and then realized we were being stood up. Great start! We hesitantly walked in the club not knowing what to expect. We soon then realized there were tons of people learning to salsa, tons. This town was a young person’s dream. Everywhere we looked there were twenty-something’s partying, drinking and dancing! Since we waited for Juan so long we were joining the salsa lesson late. I was the only one wearing stilettos. Everyone was staring, definitely because of my four-inch heels.
At first the dancing was a little embarrassing, salsa dancing is hard, people! The thirty plus other travelers trying to do the same thing made the embarrassment a little less painful. After about forty-five minutes of trying to do steps that seemed to make as much sense as my college econ classes, I decided I had enough. I didn’t have one step down. Maybe if Juan had showed up like he said he would I would’ve learned some more steps! Since I was terrible I just watched and left it to the pros. We spent an hour watching the talented sexy salsa dancers swinging their hips all over the dance floor. It was so fun watching them. Salsa dancing is incredible. They swing their hips back and forth faster than you can even move your head to watch them.
We stayed at the club, Mythology, until one in the morning while they played local music as well as hip-hop and classics. We had a lot of fun dancing with all the young travelers we had met in Lima. But it was time to go home, we had to be up in five hours for our trek. No mas tequila. We peeped our heads in the clubs, Mama Africa, and Temple. These are two well-known clubs every young person in the town knows about. If you have the time, make it to these hot spots. The music was pressuring us to stay just for one more drink, but we knew the next morning was going to be rough. We headed back to our hostel and prepared ourselves for our four-day jungle trek that was just upon us.
My final thoughts on Cusco: Cusco was an exhilarating lovely city. Next time I hope to enjoy the fellow young travelers a little more and stay for a few weeks. I’d also love to visit the nearby places like the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Lake Titicaca.
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