Cusco & Machu Picchu

Upon our arrival in Cusco, we were slightly overwhelmed. Due to its international renown and proximitiy to Machu Picchu, Cusco has turned into a massive tourist hub. On every corner you find hipster coffee joints, souvenir shops and on the central square you cannot walk 5min without being offered a massage, some art or a tour of some sort. Nevertheless, Cusco has managed to retain a certain charm with its beautiful architecture, spire-like church towers and cobble stone streets. And the food is very good.

A bucket list item for many people, including us, is of course to visit the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. The Peruvian government is doing its best to manage the hoards of people wanting to visit it (about 1.5 million per year!!) and have therefore put strict number restrictions and rules into place in order to preserve the site. This leads to a very confusing booking process with various time slots and circuits through the ruins to choose from. But we managed to get some tickets sorted and even though it was indeed crowded, they managed to keep it pretty orderly and therefore a relatively pleasant experience overall.

We had the first time slot of the day at 6am and climbed the mountain in the middle of the site, Huayna Picchu. A steep and slippery ascent to the top and at first we could not see a thing because of the thick mist hanging over the ruins. At about 8am though the clouds cleared and revealed a magnificent view over the entirety of Machu Picchu. The top of the mountain turned out to be a huge bottleneck, because every single tourist wanted a photo taken on the only rock jutting out to the side, which meant everybody had to form a big line to get their picture taken and then move on down the other side of the mountain. We then proceeded to walk around to the other side of the ruins for the classic image of Machu Picchu with Huayna Picchu in the background. The archictecture is impressive and so well preserved, deservedly making it one of the new 7 wonders of the world. The free roaming llamas on the ground were a cute bonus as well.

From Cusco we took a Collectivo (small taxi bus) to a neighboring town of Pisac. They are set within the so called "Sacred Valley" and are known for their artisanal markets. Having shopped around for the best Alpaca textiles, we took a turn around the town and stumbled upon a big field filled with dried corn husks. There were hundreds of men and women, sitting in makeshift shaded areas, husking the corn by hand and filling the kernels into 80kg bags. We were told, this "production line" happens once a year, once the corn has dried and is all destined to be exported to europe. Walking around this interesting sight Hadleigh mumbles "I think I like this better than Machu Picchu". I guess the serendipity of stumbling upon something unexpected contributes hugely to the enjoyment factor :)