The home of Peruvian pink salt is 10,000 feet high in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, 30 miles north of Cuzco, near the town of Maras. Here, more than four thousand small ponds of salt cluster together on a steep hillside. Each salt pond has a deed, like that…
The Mercado Central in Cuzco is in giant warehouse a few blocks away from the main plaza. Unofficially, it also stretches towards the railway tracks, becoming more gritty as it does. The warehouse houses a lot of food stalls, with large sections devoted solely to either fruit drinks, snacks and…
Boleto Turistico, a tourist pass that almost every traveler to Cuzco must buy, includes admission to more than a dozen of the most popular ruins and museums in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley (though not all of them). The pass will get you into: Santa Catalina Monastery and Museum Contemporary…
Most come to Cuzco (also spelled Cusco and Q’osqo, population 350,000) en route to Machu Picchu, but to many it is Cuzco that leaves them breathless, although maybe that’s from the altitude, which stands, at 3360 meters (roughly 11,000 feet) above sea level. A city shrouded in myths and legends. A…
Ten years ago there were no good restaurants in Cusco, Peru. About five years ago came along Cicciolina, Map Café, and Inka Grill. Two years ago came Rafael Osterling’s Bistrot 370 and Gaston Acurio’s Chi Cha. Now it’s Coque Ossio’s Limo, which I consider on par with Bistrot 370 as…
After courts ruled last year that luxury hotel and tour operator Orient Express’s Peru Rail had a monopoly on the rail line that connects the Andean city of Cuzco to Aguas Caliente/Machu Picchu Pueblo, a new operator has entered the picture and caused prices to drop by more than a third. Andean…
Now that McDonald’s and soon a Starbuck’s have infiltrated Cuzco’s Plaza de Armas (please boycott these), I thought it was time to paint a picture on what options there are for the foodie in the tourist bubble that is Cuzco, Peru. While pizzerias, backpacker cafes, and pubs are popular, if…
The number of hikes available from Cuzco, PEru and elsewhere in the Sacred Valley of the Incas is baffling for anyone new to the scene. The crowds and high prices of the traditional Inca Trail have spurred the growing number of tourists that come tho the Andean city to look…
