I hated Lima when I first visited in 2009. I gave it a second chance in 2014 and I’m happy I did. It has improved dramatically since my first visit. It’s easier to get around, there are better restaurant choices, and it was much safer the second time around. What a difference a few years makes!
Cusco is one of my favorite cities and one of the best things about it is the food. I was fortunate enough to have spent a few weeks there. There are several great restaurants in town worth trying. I wasn’t able to try every one on my list, but I did get through most of them.
Bus-capades. That’s how I would describe trying to get from the Uyuni Salt Flat back to Peru. The jeep driver told me if I went back to Uyuni, I would be stuck by the roadblock for possibly several days. There was no solution in sight and I was obviously going to miss my scheduled trip to Sucre. He suggested I go through Chile to get back to La Paz and finally to Cusco. Lasting over 2 ½ days, it ended up being the longest bus trip of my life.
The least popular tour and the least visited sites in the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) are on the Southern Circuit (Circuito Sur). It’s unfortunate because these ruins are equally as spectacular as the others in the valley.
The heart of the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) features a few very interesting archaeological sites on the road to Machu Picchu.
The Maras Moray Circuit (Circuito Maras Moray) of the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) visits an incredible Inca agricultural laboratory, an ancient salt mine, and a traditional craft market.
The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Valle Sagrado), is home to one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, Machu Picchu. To visit only Machu Picchu wouldn’t be enough! Valle Sagrado is full of Inca archaeological sites to keep one busy for a whole week or more. In this entry, I will give a brief overview of the day trips I took from Cusco to some of these sites.
On the hills just above the city of Cusco are the Inca ruins of Saqsayhuamán (pronounced by some tourists as “sexy woman”).
A prominent site just above the UNESCO World Heritage city of Cusco is Cristo Blanco, built on a mountain called Pukamuqu. It’s a large statue of Christ built by a group of Christian Palestinian refugees who came to Cusco in 1945. They built it as a gift of thanks to Cusco when they returned to their homeland.
A short walk uphill from Plaza de Armas in Cusco is a much smaller plaza, Plazoleta Nazarenas. There are a few historic buildings around the square that have been refurbished for modern uses.