Our flight from Arequipa ended up being delayed by a few hours, so instead of arriving to Cusco in the morning we ended up getting in halfway through the afternoon. However, what could have been a pretty frustrating day soon melted away after we met our guide JC and started taking in this fabulous city. Main Plaza of Cusco (Jeff Rottschafer)
Already Peru had wowed us with attractive towns and amazing vistas, but Cusco still did not fail to impress as JC told vivid, almost cinematic stories of the city’s history while wandering around the main square and endless side streets. This is a city whose history is very much a part of its present, and our guide did an amazing job of showing how this history still has a beating heart that shows itself in a myriad of ways.
Cusco Plaza from a side street (Jeff Rottschafer)
Cusco is also a hilly city, which is probably my favorite type of city - as long as I do not need to ride my bike in it! While Arequipa had massive mountains and volcanoes that you could see nearly on the horizon, Cusco’s hills seemed to hug the city no matter which part you were in, becoming as much a part of the town as the beautiful buildings. One of my favorite things about a city with hills is that the light always seems to be more dynamic as the sun moves throughout the day. In Cusco this energy continues through the night as the hillside structures light up giving the effect of lights hung up on a Christmas tree. Cusco at night with twinkling "stars" on the hills (Jeff Rottschafer)
Speaking of night, this is definitely a city that does not go to sleep early as both locals and travelers head out to stroll the charming streets, find a delicious meal, and even perhaps some entertainment. We decided to go the non-traditional route this evening as we stumbled across a Chiffa restaurant - which is Peru’s take on Chinese food. Somewhat incredulous, but also curious, we ordered some dumplings and fried rice dishes that really impressed us with their fusion of Peruvian flavors as well as authentic Chinese food. Paired with excellent local craft beers we positively giddy with our first dinner in the city. We would later find out that it is still very possible to get mediocre meals in Peru, but every bite that we had in Cusco was fantastic.
