Cuzco

April 9th - April 12th, 2025

Cuzco it was the political, cultural, and spiritual heart of the Inca Empire, known as Tawantinsuyu.The Incas believed Cuzco was the center of the world ("Qosqo" in Quechua), and from it, they built an extensive road network connecting their vast empire, which stretched from modern-day Colombia to Chile.

From our home base, AirBnb apartment in the foothills above the Plaza de Armas, we explored the ancient parts of town as well as some of the newer areas. Cuzco is one of my favorite cities as it is packed with culture, history and fun activities. 

We visited the ChocoMuseo right off of the Plaza de Armas. It's free to wander the museum and they even hand out samples and how you how they make the stuff.  But if you want to have a guided tour of the whole facility and the opportunity to make your own chocolate bar, you need to sign up and pay.  We had already done that in Bali so we just did the free part. 

We stumbled across this amusement park (Urpicha) as we were trying to find a clinic that would give us yellow fever immunity shots.  It had a slew of fun, but slightly dangerous mega slides and tube rides.  There was virtually no one there and absolutely no supervision or safety protocols. 

We're not usually food posters cuz, well, we're not foodies, but the kids and I went in search of traditional Peruvian food since we'd been eating in mostly since we got here.

We stumbled upon Raices Restaurant on one of the side streets on the mountainside where we are staying where I enjoyed the Lomo Saltado (tenderloin), Finley had the Ceviche (apparently the national dish) and Ryan has a Creole Soup which was delicious. We encouraged Austen to get the Ginnea Pig (a common delicacy here), but she refused and opted instead for the very traditional Peruvian dish pizza.

On our last day, Finley, Austen and I took the short trip to the awe inspiring Sacsayhuamon, a massive Inca ceremonial complex and fortress located on a hill overlooking Cusco. It’s famous for its huge, precisely cut stone walls that fit together without mortar, a marvel of ancient engineering and masonry. 

As much as we enjoyed Cuzco, we were excited to get our rental car and head to Urubamba, pick up Francesca who was there for a 3 day wellness retreat and then head to Ollaytantambo where we catch the train to Machu Picchu.