Hello Cusco

We flew from the Amazon to Cusco, and spent a few days acclimatizing to the high altitude.

We stayed at the fabulous Palacio del Inca Hotel in the center of Cusco. 

The hotel provides free coca tea which helps with altitude sickness.   We drank a few cups of the herbal tea, but we didn't really need it - Johannesburg is at high altitude, so we were fine with the high altitude in Cusco.  We got a bit out of breath when we walked up stairs, but otherwise, we were fine.

Buying alpaca wool; we should have bought lots more!

 

After a morning of shopping, we did a half day excursion with Condor Travel - it was excellent.

Visiting Saqsaywaman just outside of Cusco

And then we visited Qenqo

I Looove those table runners; I bought a few, but should have bought a lot more!  The best handcrafted items like this are found in Cusco and the Sacred Valley.  As our trip progressed, we found less and less indigenous handcrafted items that we liked, and more touristy rubbish on sale.