Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco just might be the most touristy city I visited in Peru. I guess that shouldn´t be too surprising considering everyone who goes to Machu Picchu passes through the city. As a result there are tons of people roaming the streets trying to sell crap and it is hard to go anywhere without being constantly asked to buy something or to give money.


I´ve been staying at a really nice hostel in Cuzco set up on a hill with great views of the entire city. It is in a 450 year old building and has a couple big courtyards in the middle, great for relaxing in the afternoon sun.


One really interesting part of my time in Cuzco was that I was there at the same time as Carnaval. Basically this means that the city erupts in a giant water fight. Mostly it is young people running around throwing water balloons at each other. Slowly as time went on, everyone became a target. I really wouldn´t have minded being in a water fight, but what bugged me was that the kids would launch stealth attacks. I would be walking down the street and would get hit from behind. By the time I would turn around the kids would be hidden in some doorway. Very frustrating. I felt really bad for one girl at the hostel who had all of her luggage with her and was about to get into a taxi to go to the airport for a flight to Lima. As she was getting in she got attacked by several kids with water balloons. As she stood there, they then sprayed her with some sort of foam in the face. Quite stunned, she just kinda stood there and another kid rubbed the foam all over her hair and then she got a big bucket of water thrown at her. Glad it wasn´t me.


One of the main tourist sites in Cuzco is the Inca ruins of Saqsayhuaman. They are set on a hill overlooking the city. One of the most impressive parts of this site is the stonework. Somehow the Inca´s turned giant boulders into walls and were able to fit all of the boulders together perfectly without any kind of cement. Unfortunately as I was checking out the site, I could see a giant storm coming up the valley so I opted to cut my visit a wee bit short. Oh well, still nice to see the ruins, almost a preview of what was to come later at Machu Picchu.


My stay in Cuzco was involuntarilly extended when I got stuck in a giant strike. Most everything in Cuzco shut down for a day, including taxis, buses, trains, stores and banks in protest of a measure being pushed by the Peruvian president to allow more foreign investment in the areas around some of Peru´s national treasures (including Machu Picchu). Local people fear that this is a step towards allowing the sale or lease of these of these sites to foreign companies. The strike was quite large and the city was eerily quiet, except for in the Plaza de Armas where a giant march was being held. The square was packed with people and at one point people started burning things. I was also told that people who were driving cars on this day had rocks thrown at their windows.

Cuzco is a really beautiful city, but I had a hard time getting over how touristy it was. It had some really charming areas but it was definitely not a truly authentic Peruvian experience.