Exploring the Colors and Culture of Cusco

Peru

Cusco, Plaza de Armas.

The rainbow flag is the flag of Cusco and just being in the city it is easy to see why. It is so full of color and culture and vibrance! Even the smiles on the local people’s face were bright. It may be because we were there in June during there festival period but I’m willing to bet it’s this lively and colorful all year round!

Parade Through the Streets of Cusco.

After our morning at Saqsaywaman and our nice hike down the hill back to the city we were ready for some lunch! We walked through the town center and the Plaza de Armas on the way to the lunch restaurant. This was our first experience on the ground in Cusco. It was lovely! Lots of people selling paintings and pictures with their baby sheep, everyone was so friendly through every bit of interaction.

Cusco is the perfect place to acclimate!

Heading Towards the City from Saqsaywaman.

Fountains and Town Square First Looks.

Plaza de Armas in Cusco’s Main Square.

Before arriving to Cusco the travel clinics where we got our vaccines recommended not eating fruits and vegetables with out washing them ourselves and not drinking alcohol the first few days while adjusting to altitude..

Whoops! Our guide left us for about 20 minutes to get something from the office and we broke all the rules! We had a lovely avocado salad, and a beautiful corn and queso mess accompanied with what other than Pisco Sours! The official drink of Peru! They were great, and a very nice welcome to not only Cusco but our trip. This may have come back to effect us later in the evening but we don’t think about that!

Hello Pisco Sour, My New Friend.

Ashley so Happy at Lunch!

After lunch we headed to the San Pedro market. It was close to closing time so we did a quick tour through but it was still fun! You could buy everything in here and in the back they have rows and rows and rows are mini restaurant stalls. We stopped here for a cup of coca tea, little caffeine bump to get us through the evening.

Entry to the San Pedro Market.

Woman Making Us Coca Tea From Her Stall.

Coca Tea.

The markets were great, you could see all the efforts of the local farmers and the salt mines. There was also seafood, meat and of course souvenirs a plenty!

Inside the San Pedro Market.

Salt from the Maras Salt Mines.

Snacks and Fruits for Sale

Colorful Souvenirs a Plenty.

Selling Cheese Even When She’s Napping.

After we left the market we got stuck amongst one of the family parades and it was crazy! The entire block was wall to wall people with the family in the middle parading a long and playing music! Honestly I’m not a crowd person and I still found it to be quite fun! We laughed as we worked our way through the literal sea of people.

Sea of People Following a Parade.

We winded a through several more of the city streets making our way to our hotel. Cusco is for sure not on a grid like many other cities I’ve been too. You really need to pay attention to navigate these streets and alley ways!

Street Markers.

Visiting Saqsaywaman to acclimate to the altitude, You can read all about that here.

Walkways, Doorways and Walls.

Also on our way to our hotel was the alleyway with the twelve angled stone. This was neat cause it resembled Saqsaywaman in the middle of present day Cusco. Lots of people were stopping for pictures near this stone!

Twelve Angled Stone.

Elise in the Busy Streets of Cusco.

When we arrived back to our room it was still light outside. We climbed in our beds and didn’t move until Jess arrived the next morning. The altitude and pisco sours took a lot out of us but was worth it for such a successful first day!