I’ve been posting about my recent trip to Ecuador and Peru—where we had great adventures and ended the trip, with some difficulty, at Machu Picchu.  But first, I had to go up to Cusco.

We spent three days in the Amazon basin with heat and humidity but incredible beauty.  From there, we flew to Lima, the capital of Peru, which is also at sea level.  The city is huge (10 million people) and mostly dumpy except for a couple areas near the ocean.  One is called Mira Flores and is populated with two-story old houses of every architectural design you can imagine.  Lots of people out walking and it’s only a block or two to the ocean.  However, in the name of progress, most of the small houses are scheduled to be torn down to make way for high rise apartments and condos.  Some Peruvians are going to make a bundle!

I also discovered the country’s most famous drink—the Pisco Sour.  To me, it tasted like our margaritas and the Piscos went down way too easily. It made our journey up to Cusco go easier—and that was important.

From Lima every tourists must go to Cusco in order to get to Machu Picchu.  Even in the low season when I was there, the airports in both Lima and Cusco were packed.  The country has experienced a flood of new tourists, is making a flood of money, but hasn’t put much back into the infrastructure to expand the roads, airports, etc.  The result is a mess.  We flew up to Cusco and landed at the small airport which has one short runway where planes land right next to the back doors of adobe and brick houses.

Cusco is about 11,500 feet above sea level so you have to be careful with altitude sickness.  I prepared by taking a med a day ahead and took it easy while walking around the city.  Even so, there’s only one level place anywhere—the old plaza used by the Incas and taken over by the Spanish.  Otherwise, the city is a series of narrow streets that either go up or down—steeply.  Even at a slow pace, my wife and I had to stop every couple blocks to catch our breath when you go up to Cusco.

The city was fascinating.  The ancient Incan stone work is still used all over the city.  They didn’t have steel carving tools for the granite rock nor did they use mortar.  Yet, all the walls are intricately pieced together and so tight you can’t even push a knife blade between the rocks.  Even after centuries of earth quakes, the walls still stand.  They were constructed so well, the Spanish built their mansions and churches on top of the Incan ruins.

If you go up to Cusco, you must walk some of these ancient streets and run your hands along the walls.  Originally, the Incas had four roads that intersected in the main plaza, since the Inca believed Cusco was the center of the universe.  It’s so impressive, you can almost believe that even today!