This year I decided to celebrate my birthday by visiting Peru. This was my first trip to South America and I am definitely hooked! Everyone I met in Peru was so welcoming and excited to share tips and information with me. I started my trip on a Sunday night and arrived in Cusco at 1pm on Monday. I headed to the Novotel Hotel to check-in. I highly recommend this hotel as a great spot in Cusco for exploring the city. I booked this hotel for the price and didn't research the location very much but it turned out to be extremely convenient. It is located right next to the Mariott hotel and walking distance of the main square, several museums, and the San Pedro market.
On my first full day in Cusco, I headed out to explore and decided to check out the Chocolate Museum just for kicks. I was still acclimating to the climate so it was the perfect place to relax and stop for a Hot chocolate break. The hot chocolate was delicious and very rich just the way I like it! The museum has a display area you can walk through that explains the process of creating chocolate from growing the cocoa beans all the way to the finished product. It was so interesting to see all of the different products that can be made with chocolate! I definitely recommend stopping by here to see the view from the balcony as well.
Afterward, I headed back towards the main square where the two Inca history museums are. There is one by UNESCO right down the street from Novotel and another one on the other side of the Cathedral called MuseoInca. Unfortunately, both were closed until the new year during my trip so I was not able to see the artifacts they had inside. Instead, I decided to head to the Cathedral where you can tour inside to see the exquisite baroque style decorations made from gold and silver. Photos are not allowed inside the Cathedral but I highly recommend getting the ticket to wander through if you have the time.
Finally, I headed back to my hotel and got changed for dinner. I ate at the Uchu Peruvian steakhouse where I got a delicious steak dinner and dessert for only 98 soles. The meal was huge and the meat and seasonings tasted amazing. I had a delicious chocolate dessert with chocolate prepared in 3 ways including a cake, a ganache, and chocolate candy. The Uchu steakhouse is also very close to Novotel.
After dinner as I was walking back to my hotel, I stopped in the Pisco museum. The museum is closed at night but has a bar and restaurant that stay open. I tried a delicious drink made with Pisco and strawberry called a Libia. Pisco is the traditional Peruvian alcohol made with grapes. I definitely recommend trying a classic Pisco Sour here or one of the many varieties of Pisco drinks they have! I didn't have any of the food but if you are looking for another place to eat everything on the menu looked delicious as well!
On my third day in Cusco, I got up at 4:30am to go on my hiking adventure to Rainbow Mountain. This is the classic Peru Instagram picture you will commonly see. It is a mountain with colorful horizontal stripes that looks like it has been painted. It is truly an amazing sight and I knew I wanted to get that shot but it is a very difficult hike that takes you over 16,000 feet! While researching this trip I knew I would need to prepare for this hike and also wanted to make sure I booked a tour with a knowledgeable guide in case I experienced any altitude sickness. I ended up going with Venturia travel which has a desk in the Mariott hotel and that is how I found their contact information. I highly recommend this service if you are planning to do Rainbow Mountain! The pickup was very convenient since it was right next door and while they may be a little more expensive than some other tours you could find in Cusco I felt it was worth it. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and took us on the "new road" to the rainbow mountain. We left at 5am and got there around 8:30am arriving ahead of most other travelers. All the rainbow mountain tours leave early in the morning because the drive is typically over 4 hours. However, taking the new road we saved time and were able to get a head start on our hike up the mountain. Our guide provided us with walking sticks and kept us motivated during the difficult parts of the hike. He explained to us that since it was discovered in 2015 Rainbow mountain has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cusco. It is the second most visited place in Peru after Macchu Picchu. The hike itself was beautiful as you pass by a huge glacier, and have sweeping views of the green hills behind you as you ascend towards the viewpoint. It is a really interesting phenomenon because the colors on the mountain are really only pronounced from the viewpoint and so it keeps you motivated to keep hiking to the top to get those perfect photos! The mountainous region of Cusco is known for being rainy in the afternoon so if you are lucky you will make it to the summit before the rain starts and you will get a peek of sunshine to take photos with! We got very lucky and had beautiful weather during our hike. It was really only cold once we reached the very top because of the winds. Most of the hike is a gentle climb although it is still a little difficult because of the altitude. I was out of breath even on the easy parts. However, the most difficult part is towards the very top and gets very steep. The view from the top is definitely worth finishing the hike though and it is much easier going down so you have that to look forward to! Don't forget to take the classic pictures with the Llamas! Some of them even wear sunglasses! Our guide also explained to us that the local people who bring the Llamas for photos and sell their crafts along the hike are native to this area. They wear very brightly colored traditional clothing made from Alpaca wool and our guide told us that this is actually their everyday clothing and not something they wear for the tourists. I loved the bright colors and pom-poms on their outfits.
The following day I left early in the morning to catch the train from Cusco to Macchu Picchu. I took the PeruRail Vistadome train which was a great way to see the sacred valley even if you are not trekking the Inca trail. I really enjoyed the hospitality on this train ride as no matter what type of ticket you have you will receive excellent service from the staff. There is also information along the way and you can see several important Inca ruins from the railroad tracks. One of the train managers told me, "Many people come to trek to Macchu Picchu but me I prefer the train as it is a bit nicer" and I have to agree with him. The train ride takes about 3 hours and is very picturesque. The Inca trail takes between 4 and 5 days so the train is a great option if you are on a time crunch as well.
I arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes at around 12:30pm and headed to my hotel Casa del Sol. After leaving the train station you will walk through the artisanal market and emerge in the cute town of Aguas Calientes named after the hot springs which are not far away. If you have extra time the hot springs are a great way to relax either before or after your hike to Macchu Picchu. The town also has several great restaurants and nice boutiques for souvenir shopping. The artisanal market is so fun to wander through and you might find some great handmade souvenirs! There is even a Boulangerie, leave it to me to find the one Parisian cafe in Macchu Picchu!
My hotel Casa del Sol had an amazing view of the river and cute town. The staff were so welcoming and even made me a birthday cake! They also sang Happy birthday to me and served me a delicious gourmet breakfast before I headed out on my adventure to Machu Picchu.
There are several options to get to Macchu Picchu from Aguas Calientes. You can walk to the staircase which takes between 1 hour and 1.5 hours to get to the top. There is also a bus which costs 24 soles round trip and takes about 20 minutes not considering boarding time. I took the bus because my hotel recommended it. However, if you have good weather I would definitely encourage doing the stairs at least one way as you will experience how the Incas originally came to Macchu Picchu. I also recommend hiring a guide as there is very little signage in the park and it is much more interesting to get the information from a local guide!
My guide also taught me several words in the Quecha language which was the original Inca language. After finishing my tour of Macchu Picchu we waved goodbye to the majestic mountain village saying, "Cutimnaauykama" which means "See you later" in Quechua!
I headed back down the mountain where I waited in a cafe next to the sacred river for my train back to Cusco. Since it was my birthday the cafe gave me a slice of cheesecake with chocolate and strawberry sauce. They also sang to me in English and Spanish! The food was delicious and I had a great view of the river where I was able to relax after a long morning of hiking.
I headed back to the artisanal market to browse before my train departed. The afternoon return train to Cusco is very fun and I definitely recommend booking this time slot if you can! The staff puts on a fashion show and a live dance and music performance where you can see traditional Andean culture in action! I even got to dance with the performers in a conga line around the train car!
On my second to last day in the city, I decided to explore the Sacsqueyman ruins that overlook the city. The historic Inca site is where the ancient capital city of Cusco would hold the festival of the sun which was a very important festival for the Incan religion. Incas from all across the continent would travel to Cusco for this festival and the great stone ruins are placed in a large grassy circle set among the hills. It is a very beautiful place and the park is operated by the government just like Machu Picchu so you can purchase tickets online or at the entrance. Getting there is quite a walk up several blocks of stairs through Cusco. The altitude makes it extra difficult and I got tired out pretty quickly walking up the steep hills. After a while, I had to stop for a break and I ran into some tour guides offering a horseback riding tour of the ruins. Since I was already worn out from the hiking I had done earlier in my trip I decided to give it a chance. It was more expensive than the ticket to enter the ruins but since it included a horseback ride and personal tour guide it turned out to be a pretty good deal. This was one of my favorite experiences in Cusco and the views that I got were breathtaking. I normally do not recommend tours outside of the office parks and tourist attractions but in this case just going with it really paid off! This tour is not in the official park of Sacsqueyman but it takes you all around the native lands where some Peruvians still have farms and raise animals. The tour guides are part of the native community as well. My tour went to 3 ruins as my horse, Caramello trotted through the beautiful valley. I would also recommend checking the weather before taking this tour as I got very lucky with a lot of sun and cooperative weather which made it very enjoyable. We went to several ancient Inca ruins in the valley and ended near some caves with an amazing view overlooking Sacsquaymann.
First, we stopped at the temple of Chuspiyoq which is shaped like an Incan head.
Our next stop was the temple of the moon. This is the one I would recommend really taking your time on and getting a ton of photos. The views at the top are just amazing and you can see Cusco with the mountains in the background and sprawling views of the greenery below.
After finishing at the Moon Temple we rode through the valley and dropped off Caramello next to the caves. On our final stop we explored on foot and went to what is called the Monkey caves where you can see Inca carvings and stones placed throughout the caves. My guide took me climbing through the caves and it was quite the adventure! We went through one that was pitch black in some parts and then we had to climb up a tunnel to get out the top on the other side!
After I got back to Cusco I decided to spend my last night Salsa dancing in one of the nightclubs around town. While Cusco is a smaller city they do have a nightlife scene you just have to be willing to look for it! I spent the night at a club called Mytolgica where they played live salsa and cumbia music! Due to Covid, it was a little more difficult to find out where the open nightclubs were but I eventually found one!
On my final day in the city, I had a late-night flight so I spent the morning exploring the San Pedro market and doing some souvenir shopping! The market is full of handmade food and souvenirs such as ponchos, sweaters, and bags. It is a vibrant and busy place with tons of fun little trinkets so I definitely recommend stopping by if you are in the neighborhood!
Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of these Peru adventures!
