After the heat and the bugs of the jungle it was time for a change, so we traveled south to Cuzco.  From Lima it’s usually only about 21 hours on the bus to get to Cuzco.  Unfortunately, there was road construction when we went through, so it took 25 hours.  Also, the last 8 hours or so are on a steep, winding road, prompting the little kid sitting behind us to puke non-stop.  Hot tip: if your kid is super car sick and puking for a couple hours, then stops (probably because there is nothing left in him to puke), please don’t give him food.  The results were pretty predictable, and it made for a really long ride.

The pay off when you get there is a stunning city, crawling up the sides of a mountain valley. 

Where to Stay:

Once again, we stayed at The Point.  Prices range from $8 a night for a dorm bed, to $30 for a double private.  The prices were pretty good compared to other hostels in Cuzco, and there are a lot.  The bar at The Point had 2 drinks for $4 during happy hour, and 20oz Brahmas for $2.  Not too bad.

What to Do:

I’ll be honest, we didn’t do much in Cuzco.  I got food poisoning and couldn’t do anything for three days.  After a couple days of being sick I had lost so much weight that I had to tighten my watch.  Seriously, who loses weight in their wrists?  That’s fucked up.

When I was feeling good we did take a hike up to Jesus, who overlooks the town.  It’s a really nice walk, and there are other Incan ruins in the area.  Also, on the way up you can check out the Incan stone walls.  They are really incredible.  Plus the fact that a lot of buildings in Cuzco were build on top of the walls by the Spanish is really interesting. You can physically see the different periods in history stacked on top of one another here, and that’s fucking cool. 

The big downside to Cuzco is that it is extremely touristy. We were there in mid-March, so Machu Pichu was still closed, and the town was half empty, but the tourist touts were in full force.  You really can’t walk anywhere without people bothering you on the street, and it gets old.  Also, to visit any of the museums or go into the ruins in and around Cuzco you need to purchase a “”boleto touristico”,  which costs about $40.  This is fine if you’re planning to spend a lot of time seeing everything, but if you just want to check out one or two of the sites it’s a total rip.  We skipped it. 

There are also lots of cool markets to walk through, and the Cuzco nightlife is pretty good.  There are lots of bars, and drinks are generally pretty cheap, but watch your stuff.  The drunkette was pick-pocketed at one crowded nightclub, but we were pretty drunk…….