David Grajal

Cuzco is an amazing city full of history placed at 3300m on a fertile valley on the Andes. Cuzco (Cusco, for the locals) was the capital of the Inca empire. After the Spanish conquest was the capital of South America and the religious capital on the new world (A second Vatican City). Once Peru got independence, Cuzco was completely forgotten until they realized they could make money from their past. Nowadays they have a powerful tourism industry and it is an obligated stop on all the South American tours, because the of city itself and because it’s the start point on your way to Macchu Pichu.

Cuzco Cathedral

I was feeling on Cuzco something special. On my first night there, while walking around the streets I experienced a cultural shock because
It was the first time on my life being surrounded by poverty. Cuzco buildings and streets looked like the most depressed towns in Castilla… until occasionally you discover a 700 years old Inca wall used as foundation for a building. This city is placed on the country side and fells more real, not as superficial as Lima. You can peel the different historical layers like an onion.

The first thing I did on Cuzco was drinking Mate de Coca to get used to the height. I don’t drink coffee so drinking those massive quantities of Coca prevented me to fell sleepy or even to feel hungry. The locals drink it all the time and some of them chew it.

Inca Wall on Cuzco, very close to the "Stone with 12 sides "

Apart of walk around all the city and visit the cathedral where Pizarro is buried, I visited all the Inca ruins near Cuzco. I went to Tambomachay or Inca baths, then I went to Pukapukara and after that I went to Q’enquo where I met an Inca Chaman. All those ruins still have some walls but they are really deteriorated and they mostly look like if somebody dropped randomly some huge rocks. The last ruin was Sacsayhuamán, which is the most important because it was one of the most important Inca temples. In Sacsayhuamán I met some local students that were kindly enough to offer me a tour on the ruins. With their wording was easy to imagine how splendorous the construction had been.

This is sacsayhuamán, placed on the top of a hill dominating the city. Notice the size of those stones!

Those locals wanted me to understand better their country and recommend me to watch some peruvian movies I unfortunately couldn’t find on the net. They also recommend me “The Motorcicle Diaries” which I’ve already watched and it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with South America culture.

With a local on Tambomachay

Cuzco is a extremely nice city and it’s completely worth to spend here several days. Don’t miss the oportunity of discover it even if you are blind of excitement after visiting Machu Picchu!