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Posts in the "Cusco Guide" section

Climb to the heights of the condors in the sacred valley

Ever imagined how it would feel to be like Spiderman, climbing buildings and walls? Ever wondered how the view over the sacred valley would look from the point of a condor soaring high above? Climb 300 metres up sheer cliff-face using metal handles and steps embedded into the rock.

March 8, 2010 | Cusco Guide

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Cafe Ayllu: A classic coffee shop in Cusco

Although it sadly no longer exists, it’s nice to be reminded of the once iconic Cafe Ayllu of Cusco, thanks to photographer Scott Vanthoff.

December 29, 2009 | Cusco Guide, Opinion

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Little town of Quince Mil is becoming a Hotspot [Featured]

For TIME, Lucien Chauvin writes about developments in the little town of Quince Mil, from the benefits of the new Inter-Oceanic Highway that links the Atlantic with the Pacific via Peru and Brazil, to the environment problems it will bring.

November 28, 2009 | Cusco Guide, News

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Train to Machu Picchu-Aguas Calientes, new operators, what you need to know

There were only two ways to get to Machu Picchu – hiking the tracks from Santa Teresa (cheap) or catching an overpriced train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. Now that Perú Rail’s monopoly has come to an end, there are two further options to get to the Inca Citadel.

October 8, 2009 | Cusco Guide, News

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Ollantaytambo: A living breathing Inca town

This pretty little town in the Andes is different from all the others. It may be set among beautiful mountainous scenery like all the others, be populated by indigenous locals going about their daily business like all the others, be pleasantly quiet like all the others and be surrounded by ancient ruins like all the [...]

September 18, 2009 | Archaeology, Cusco Guide

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Salineras de Maras – “Inca Salt Pans”

It was getting late. The sun had just dipped behind the mountains that tower over the Urubamba valley and the town of the same name. The salt pans outside the town of Maras, some way above Urubamba, were just within a reasonable distance to travel. So with no plans to come back to Urubamba any time soon, it was worth a shot to reach them.

August 25, 2009 | Cusco Guide

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Charming San Blas, Cusco

San Blas. A blend of ancient, colonial and modern, religious and decadent, peaceful and lively, traditional and new – the district is a bit of a mix to say the least. It’s a hippy hang out, an artists retreat, a backpacker’s home. It’s a tourist puller and a night-life mecca. A religious site that is home to an important parish church, and also a place where locals live in the same homes that have stood here on the same streets, high above Cusco, for centuries.

August 13, 2009 | Cusco Guide

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Terraces of Moray

Some say Moray was an Inca laboratory used to test how different crops would perform at different temperatures. Others say it was a more of a nursery where crops were bred and cross-bred, varieties created and new foreign crops tested. A third group say it was just an ingenious means to grow warmer climate maíz or corn in the local cold climate. Whoever is right, this archaeological site of concentric circles of terraced farms, forming craters in the landscape, are a fascinating sight to behold.

August 5, 2009 | Archaeology, Cusco Guide

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The Andean Sistene Chapel in Andahuaylillas [Featured]

Mark of the must-see travel blog travel-wonders.com visits what locals describe as “the Sistine Chapel of the Americas”. Though he considers that a bit of a cheeky exaggeration, this ordinary-looking church on the outside does not fail to impress once you step inside.

July 27, 2009 | Cusco Guide

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Across from Ollantaytambo

When I first visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo, I saw the Inca store houses up on the other side of the valley across the town. There’s no way I could have climbed up there back then, I was just too exhausted. I figured I’d visit them “next time”, whenever that would be. A couple of years passed, and “next time” finally came.

July 21, 2009 | Archaeology, Cusco Guide, Opinion

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Inca Pisaqa – The ruins of Pisac

High above the colonial market town of Pisac, today the gateway for many tourists to the Sacred Valley, are some of the finest Inca ruins in existence. They might not be in a location quite as beautiful as Machu Picchu, or on a scale quite as monumental as Sacsayhuamán, but the stonework here is some of the best you will ever see in Peru or elsewhere. Spanning about a kilometre or two along a mountain ridge at 3250 metres above sea level, its sections are separated by natural terrain but accessible by paths and tunnels. As you march from one urban area to another along these paths, with steep drops all the way, you can’t help but be awestruck by it all.

July 20, 2009 | Archaeology, Cusco Guide

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