August 5th – 11th. Entering Cusco, we rolled past the city’s industrial fringe and past the bustling local neighbourhoods. Google Maps, ever eager to get us there faster, tried to lure Bruce into steep, narrow, cobblestone shortcuts, not this time I was wise to h Instead, we followed the main road up toward our campground, perched high above the old town, just above the Pueblo of San Cristóbal.
Behind the tall gates, we found our home for the next week. A dozen or so parked campers, and an equal number of camping overlanders’, vehicles in every imaginable style from rooftop tents on little hatchbacks, sprinter type vans, some sexy looking Landrover’s and a few big rigs like Bruce. It didn’t take long before we were chatting with other travellers who had come from all directions, countries, and languages. Making connections, swapping stories and adding to our list of must visit places. Within hours we had new friends; within days, it felt like we’d known each other for much longer. I wished I’d taken more photos of our time there.
A week drifted by before we realized it. Mornings were slow and social. Afternoons were for wandering the streets of historic Cusco—past pretty whitewashed buildings housing souvenir shops, artisan workshops, and bougie boutiques. The city has something for everyone, from bargain handwoven bracelets to high-end alpaca wool coats, galleries, churches & museums.
From Inca Capital to Colonial Jewel
Cusco was once the beating heart of the Inca Empire, its streets lined with masterfully cut stone walls that still stand today. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they destroyed much of the Inca architecture and built their cathedrals and colonial houses right on top of the old stone foundations. The Plaza de Armas remains the city’s centerpiece, framed by grand churches, cobblestone streets, and views up to the hills.
Tim and I were here 25 years ago, and the change is striking. These days, it’s more than just busy—every second storefront is a tour company or an alpaca wool shop, and every street corner hums with locals selling something, anything—from a packet of wet wipes to “luxury” baby alpaca shawls.
Saqsaywaman
We bought the Tourist Boleto—130 soles each—for access to many museums, ruins, and churches in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. But of course the most popular places to visit were exempt, including the cathedral and at 200 soles for the family we had to pass. Paying to enter a church seems wrong. It did include entry into Saqsaywaman Ruins however.
Visiting the ruins of Saqsaywaman, was one of the highlights of Cusco for me. Sprawling Inca ruins just steps from the campground, perched directly above the city. Certainly one of the more impressive sites we’ve visited. The sheer scale of the stones was both staggering and mind-blowing! Some stones weighed over 100 tons!!! Fitted together with such precision that not even a blade of grass can slip between them.
There is a fun natural rock formation that has become highly polished from likely decades of tourists sliding down on. Of course our two loved this feature above all else and quickly mastered the technique of high speed sliding on their feet, lap after lap.
From there, we walked back down into Cusco and rewarded ourselves with fresh fruit smoothies at the San Pedro, (tourist) Market cold, sweet, and perfect.
our time
Another day, Tim and I left the kids at camp and spent the afternoon exploring the city on our own. It’s nice to have some time together without the whining of sore feet, sore legs, hunger, heat, I’m bored, or “not another museum” or 5 mins after leaving camp, “how long are we going to be gone?” protest…the usual routine… We wandered the entire afternoon exploring further and deeper right into the locals markets where the real culture starts.
Camp Life & Market Scenes
Evenings were often spent with other travelers, including one memorable pizza night at camp. The outdoor pizza oven needed some coaxing to reach temperature, and the dough may have been a bit thick, but the laughter was plentiful. Only the next day did we hear that half the group had gotten sick—thankfully, not from our pizzas.
a different kind of market
On our last day, we returned with the kids to the local market where the streets & stalls overflowed with produce & people. Women in traditional dress called out their wares. Slaughtered animals hung from hooks—cow, pig, guinea pig and chicken. Goat heads were piled in buckets for bulk buyers. Bull’s noses, horns and every organ and odd cut was for sale, right down to horns and hocks. Jaxon, feeling adventurous ate some cooked quail eggs he’d been eyeing for days, they were delicious.
Traffic Tangles & a lack of logic
Cusco’s traffic is another factor. Logic doesn’t really play into practicality. For example , each day we’d walk the 30 min down hill into the city, that was easy, then we’d usually grab an Uber taxi home. One evening we called an Uber, only to make it a third of the way home when the road ahead seized up in gridlock from one of the many multi day Saints Festivals. Unable to continue, we abandoned our ride & walked the rest of the way home, while our driver somehow executed a U-turn in the chaos. The funniest part? The jam had been going on for a couple of days now, and yet no one from the ‘city’ thought it would be a good idea to make it a one-way street!
The weather here was perfect—cool nights dropping to 7–8°C, sunny days in the mid-high 20s, The sun is intense, you can feel it burning within minutes. We start out our day bundled till the sun heats up, then once it’s set all heat is quickly gone.
we got nailed!
The day before we’d planned to leave, Tim spotted a NAIL in the inside sidewall of a rear tire!! Ugh, a headache we really don’t need. All info on Google says sidewall punctures are “unrepairable”. This would mean we would have to replace both rear tires. Thankfully South American practicality prevails! On the outskirts of the city we found a local tire shop who had the wheel off the truck, the tire off the rim a heavy-duty patch in place. It was just like fixing a bicycle tube—only bigger and dirtier. The wheel was back on the truck and we were back on the road, within an hour at a very reasonable cost of 150 soles, which is approximately $58 CAD. Looks pretty good to me, I bet it holds for the rest of the trip. The tire store was a bit of a family affair with 3 generations all pitching in at different levels.
A quick diesel level measure, not very high tech, but Tim’s measuring stick method is very effective.
A grocery stop, before we began the climb toward… historical PISAC in the Sacred Valley.