Reflections: Cusco

Cusco is the main tourist destination in Peru, since it is the starting point for Machu Picchu. Cusco is thus a tourist town, and everything good and bad that can be expected from a tourist town is here.

The good: there are many people who can help in English, it has good tourist infrastructure in terms of food, accommodation and travel.

The bad: I find it somewhat overpriced, and every one assumes that the tourist has money - so there are a lot of beggars and vendors trying to sell you something at every corner. It is sometimes just frustrating to travel around the city.

Cusco has its own attractions, but except for Qorinkancha (see here), most of the attractions in Cusco itself are rather mundane. To visit Saqsaywaman and most of the other ruins, a Cusco Tourist ticket is needed - and I spent this morning going through the museums included in the ticket. While they all have something interesting, I would not have considered going to any of them if I had to pay to enter them individually.

That said, I have enjoyed my time in Cusco. In particular, I had a great Christmas Eve. The residents of Cusco really celebrate Christmas by setting off fireworks and many clubs along the main square throw big parties. It was a great night out, and would have stayed a lot longer if I did not have to get up by 6 am on 25 Dec to go to Machu Picchu.