After two wonderful weeks in the Northern part of Peru, and thus my last days in the warmer parts of the Southern Hemisphere, I headed back to Lima.
This is where Jay and I had decided to meet to carry on to quite the adventure-packed 3 weeks ahead of us, and our first stop was: Cuzco.
Cuzco, is the 3600m above sea level Capital of the Incan empire, as well as the city in the sacred valley and more importantly, the most hyped-up and touristic city you will hear of in South America.
The city is characterised by being one the most stunning examples of colonial architecture with Incan accents that still prevail, and definitely a little gem to walk around.Especially during the weeks before their big festival in appreciation to Inti, the Sun god.
The colourful people of Cuzco gave us quite a show from the moment they wake up until well in the AMs. And unsurprisingly, people from all over the valley come to showcase their love and affinity for the Incan God with dances, plays, music and lots and lots of colourful attires.
Cuzco is a precious city full of your typical “Llama” gear, and touristic babioles at a relatively cheap price. It is a place where you will find interesting tours that give you another taste of traditional Peruvian dishes, such as Llama meat, and Chocolate.
We decided to book ourselves into the Wild Rover. For those who have never heard of this place, you can just image that it is the perfect marriage between University Halls/Fraternities, and an Irish Pub.
And to those – like me – who like sleep, well this is really not the place for you.
The Rover in Cuzco definitely lives up to its name: it is a cracking party house, with a very full week’s worth of events ranging from beer pong, to karaoke and pub crawls.
So again, not my particularly favourite place when I’m gonna have to wake up early for hikes.
But I’ll say this, though the first night was terrible due to some idiots who had decided to have a loud conversation in our room in the early AMs, the semi-cold showers in the middle of the high-altitude-city in mid-winter, and the weirdly inaccuracy of the bar’s tab system, the Hostel functionned well, it had good quality beds and facilities, a good menu that made you feel like home, and fantastic views. But only at the price of your sanity, health and a good hike up the hill where it sat.
I’ll be honnest, I didn’t particularly enjoy Cuzco, and I think I’m being unfair. Mainly because I got a little bit sick because of the sudden cold temperatures, and because we were there to do things I dislike most: hiking.
Other than that, Cuzco is a fantastically beautiful city, and whose people are warm, welcoming and sweet.
Love always,
Izzie
World Wild Being 