Cusco | Big Fat Tourist

The day after the Machu Picchu I was grinning like the cat that got the cream. We had nothing planned, so we wandered around Cusco. We saw a big statue and climbed up it (legally, via. stairs), we had a very cheap and delicious lunch at a market (around 58p for a massive plate of rice, beef, onion, tomato and pepper – yum!). We then looked around a craft market.

Then an amazing thing happened.

We were in the craft market looking at crafts, and a lady came up and started to speak to us in heavily accented, broken English. I was confused at first, and a bit wary – I have learnt about Stranger Danger. However I made out the word “Uffizi”, and then she said “you were in Firenze in the Spring”. My jaw hit the floor. Continue reading →

Catching an overnight flight from Lima to Cusco had seemed like a really good idea. We’d save on hotel bills, and wake up fresh and well rested the next morning, keen to explore. We congratulated ourselves on such an excellent plan. Unfortunately, after a sleepless night on a plane we didn’t feel quite so clever. In fact, we felt shattered. We are never doing that again! We made our way to the hotel to rest.

We had done our research beforehand and knew all about the altitude. Altitude sickness can be really serious and so it’s sensible to allow yourself time to acclimatise. Upon arriving at our hotel we were greeted by the sight of a elderly man leaving in an ambulance with oxygen tanks – we were told that he was fine when he arrived yesterday but the altitude had made him ill. Continue reading →