Cusco, city of the tourist

These natural lava slides were used for entertainment or for bashing prisoners' heads. The jury is out.
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A mid-morning flight took us from dank Juliaca to glorious Cusco. (note: LAN flights can be reasonably had, and if you can afford a few extra bucks, you can save yourself an 8-hour bus ride, which means more time to explore Cusco.)

We caught a cab ride to our lodging, the Residencia Torredorada (see review) to drop our stuff off. As many people do, we were bookending our Macchu Picchu trek with two stays in Cusco, so we weren't under a lot of pressure to cram.

A friend of mine who is from Cusco told me that if you have only one day, you should visit the colonial neighborhood of San Blas and the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, which overlooks Cusco. Having done just, that I would agree -- though you should try to squeeze in the Museo del Inka if you can.

On the Plaza de Armas, there are two large churches, the cathedral and the Compania de Jesus church, above.
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San Blas

Our hotel had a friendly drop-off service, so they took us to the Plaza de San Blas to start the day. Perched high on a hill, the San Blas neighborhood provides wonderful views of Cusco below. Many of the buildings are still colonial originals, dating from around 1600, and many of those still preserve the stonework of the Inca buildings they were constructed over.

The church of San Blas stands in the middle of the neighborhood. If you want to visit Cusco's religious sites, including the cathedral, you must buy a special boleto turistico, a tourist ticket. There are a couple kinds, as well as individual tickets for some places, and as far as I can tell, there is no longer one master ticket that gets you into both the religious and archaelogical sites (this appears to be a fairly recent change).

In the afternoon, the Plaza de San Blas is packed with artisans and vendors.
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San Blas' winding streets are reminiscent of Cordoba, Spain, except for the occassional livestock that wanders past. Also located here is the exclusive Hotel Monasterio, with rooms ranging between about $500 and $1,300 a night (yes, that's USD). The rooms include an oxygen tank to help with the altitude, I'm told. For those readers who aren't part of the super-rich (scoff, scoff), there is lots of affordable lodging in Cusco, much of it in San Blas.

Don't think of the neighborhood as a place to go and see something -- rather, San Blas itself is the attraction. Take a leisurely stroll (between the hills and the altitude, it will probably have to be leisurely, unless you're visiting from Nepal) to enjoy the winding streets. There are several cafes that open to great views of the city.

The windy, hilly streets of San Blas host a multitude of shops and cafes.
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San Blas is also home to myriad shops, ranging from the thousands of street vendors who will follow you for blocks (more on this later), to classy places with names like Inkantations, mostly centered around the ritzy Hotel Monasterio and Plazoleta Nazarenas. For something a little more original (you will begin to feel like all the shops sell the same 10 or so items), check out Creaciones Ollantay in Calle Choquechaka, where you can watch a craftsman make leather items from bags to belts to hats (I bought my second Indiana Jones hat here).

On the streets between San Blas and Plaza de Armas, you'll see lots of Incan stonework.
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When you're done, take a street downhill from Plaza de San Blas and after running the gantlet, you'll arrive to Plaza de Armas. On the walk down the hill, keep your eye open for the giant stones at the base of the buildings. The Incan stonework includes no mortar; the rocks are perfectly shaped to fit together so tightly that you can't slide a piece of paper between them.

Tourist overload

As beautiful as Cusco is, it's easy to see why there are so many tourists. But at this point, the city is positively saturated. It's impossible to walk more than three steps without having a vendor, street artist, restaurant or massage hawker, poor kid selling street puppets latch onto you. You'll probably feel a bit bad at first, but you have to give them a quick "No, gracias" and keep walking or you'll never see the city. Even making eye contact while saying no usually encourages the person enough for them to follow you for a couple blocks, asking where you're from, etc.

The three levels of walls are the signature of Sacsayhuaman, a religious center above Cusco.
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My poor mother is a bit weak in this department. She feels the need to stop and try to explain why she doesn't want to buy anything (in her case the reason is, "I already bought 3 paintings, 6 gourd dolls, 14 post cards, a handful of necklaces, enough knit items to reassemble an alpaca ...). This is a bad idea. While you stop to shop from one person, or to say no, other people will literally form a line to get at you next. You can get stuck for an hour on one street corner, and could leave Cusco feeling quite badgered. Once a woman waited outside our restaurant during our entire lunch to try to sell my mother gourds (Mom ended up paying exactly twice what the gourds cost in real stores).

The throne of the Inca king at Sacsayhuaman.
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As for the kids, including 8-year-olds selling cigarrettes, I decided against giving any of them money on the basis that it encourages their parents to keep them from going to school. One cab driver told me that most of the kids' parents don't work, preferring to send their children out instead. I don't know how often that's true, but it isn't much of a thought. Still, it can be pretty hard to tell a cute kid with dirt of his face that you're not going to give him one sol.

Plaza de Armas is just as bad. Whenever possible, cross the middle of the plaza instead of going around the sides. Money changers, restaurants, massages, travel agencies ... they all have someone to yell at you as you walk by (getting money or a travel agent this way is a very bad idea). Pick your restaurant independently, then walk there in a straight line.

The back of Sacsayhuaman is still being excavated, but provides wonderful views of the city and valley. It is windy, so bring a jacket.
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Sure, these are just people trying to make a living, but it does detract considerably from Cusco's charm, and if you have trouble saying no, it can make walking down the street a harrowing experience.

Sacsayhuaman

A short taxi ride up the hill will take you to Sacsayhuaman, believed by most to be a religious and command center for the Incas. It was open only to the Incan nobility, priests and a class of virgin women dedicated to the sun. Now, thankfully, it's open to any schmuck with a boleto turistico.

Sacsayhuaman is distinguished by three layers of fortress-like walls. The theme of three repeats throughout Incan architecture, representing the levels of the Incan cosmology: the underworld (represented by the snake), the exterior (puma) and the heavens and gods (condor). The stonework that makes up the complex is impressive -- stones twice as tall as a man, perfect carved and places so they lock together without mortar. Additionally, the walls were built to withstand the region's frequent earthquakes.

Though the Spanish sacked much of Sacsayhuaman (and native craftsmen did more damage by using the site as a quary to build the Plaza de Armas and cathedral under Spanish commands), there is enough left to make it one of the best Incan works. The backside also affords great views of the Cusco Valley below.

You will want a guide for your visit, otherwise there are no markings to know what something is. If you speak Spanish, you should be able to find a guide without problem at the site (probably a tourism student, caveat emptor, but our was superb, named Edwin). If you want to be sure of getting a guide with good English skills, you probably should be cautious and book with a group through an agency.

Sacsayhuaman is still under active excavation -- whenever Lima decides to return to it some of the absurd sums paid by visitors (it is rather pricey) instead of using it as a slush fund. Though much of the place had been robbed, diggers recently found two gold and silver llama statues at the site, as well as the remains of a man who appears to have died while turning the soil.

Take the time to climb up among the lava flows to see the throne of the Inca king (technically, only the ruler is called Inca, the commoners are called Quechuas, but that's a bit complicated). Around the back, you can see some of the original system of channels used to bring fresh water into the site, as well as some natural lava slides. According to our guide, the slides were either used for the entertainment of the noble children, or they tied prisoners hands behind their backs and sent them down headfirst. Give yourself a couple hours to roam here. It's somewhat tame compared to Macchu Picchu, but is still a site to behold.