Guys. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I traveled to Peru. I also can't believe I never finished blogging about my trip. So much time has past! Friends have taken this trip after me based on my recommendations that I sadly never bothered to write on here. Thus, I'm committing myself over the next two days to finish writing about this trip.
I didn't have a particularly great time in Cusco, nor do I have a lot of great tips, but it was next on our trek so I figure I've gotta talk about it. We had a little less than a day to spend in Cusco (which is probably why I don't have a fond opinion of it), and arrived after a busy day seeing the salt mines and moray. We weren't exactly sure where our Airbnb was, so we were dropped off in an unknown location in the rain and trudged through the cobblestone streets with our suitcases arguing the entire time. Eric and I were tired and cranky, but we trudged on.
We did have an amazing apartment that we stayed in. It overlooked the Plaza de Armas (which is essentially what you go to see when in Cusco). Yes, those pictures of the city were taken from our apartment window - Amazing! The only downside was that the toilet had no door on it, so it was very open to the apartment. You'll see why this is such a downside later in the story.
We wandered around the Plaza, but it felt very tourist-trap to me after being in the peaceful sacred valley for so many days. Lots of people yelling at you to buy stuff or hold their baby goat. We ended up going into one of the cathedrals and eavesdropping on one of the tours. Inside, we bumped into an Australian couple and chatted for 30 minutes, all of us excited to find someone else to speak to in English. Australians truly are the nicest people on Earth to run into.
That night we ventured out to a fancy restaurant based on a recommendation from our previous Airbnb host. We had been looking forward to it as soon as she had described it to us as "hipster". Sadly, I can't remember the name. We got in, ordered some craft beers (a rare find in most Peruvian restaurants!) and placed our tasty-sounding orders. Then I got terrible, terrible stomach cramps and we had to rush back to the apartment. I was pissed, Eric was pissed. I spent the rest of the night in bed watching a marathon of Criminal Minds. Eric had to go eat with an Italian backpacker at the restaurant next door (obviously his night was just terrible).
The next morning we awoke early to head to the airport and fly back into Lima for the last leg of our trip. Isn't that sad? If I ever make it back to Peru, I'd love to revisit Cusco. Eat at that restaurant and make it outside of the touristy areas. For now, I don't miss it all that much.
