Getting used to the altitude is recommended before heading on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. The best place for that is Cusco, located at an altitude of 3,400 meters. Cusco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the former capital of the Inca Empire. It is known for its stunning Inca architecture, cobbled streets, and vibrant culture. So I decided to take three nights at Cusco before walking the Inca trail, and damn: that height kicked me 🙂
Already walking out of the airplane felt weird, hard to describe, but it felt as if you were a passenger on a speedy accelerating car. I heard that others think that differently… Nevertheless, walking some stairs felt like a marathon. The locals recommend biting coca leaves to get used to it. I tried it, but I was not really into it. But over the days, I got used to the altitude of the height at Cusco. First of all, I explored the beautiful city of Cusco.
Besides exploring the city and walking up a little hill to the statue of Christo Blanco, I took an ATV tour to some ancient places. Almost 2 hours by cab from Cusco, the ATV waited for us. It was nice exploring very rough the nature of Sacred Valley nature with an ATV. That nature is just incredible and stunning.
In three hours (for both directions), we drove to the Moray, an ancient Inca agricultural laboratory. It is a complex of circular terraced depressions in the Sacred Valley of the Incas believed to have been used as an agricultural research station.
The terraces create a microclimate gradient, with temperatures varying by up to 15 degrees Celsius between the top and bottom terraces, allowing the Incas to experiment with growing crops from different altitudes.
Moray’s advanced irrigation system and sophisticated agricultural techniques allowed the Incas to cultivate over 250 varieties of crops, including potatoes, corn, quinoa, and others. Crazy if you think about what the Incas did between 1200 and 1533 AD…
After getting off the ATVs, we were driven by the cab further to the Maras Salt Mines. The Maras Salt Mines (Salineras de Maras) are a series of over 6,000 individual salt pools carved into the hillside of the Sacred Valley. The mines are thought to have been built by the Incas over 500 years ago, and they are still used today by local families. Saltwater from a natural underground spring is channeled into the pools, evaporating under the hot sun and leaving behind pure salt crystals. The varying mineral content causes the different shades of blue and green in the pools.
After that, we headed back to Cusco.
It was a 6-hour afternoon, but it was worth doing it and for 20 EUR also for a very reasonable price.
Besides the beauty of Cusco, I have to mention one bad point about Cusco. As Cusco is the starting point for all Inca-related tours, it’s also pretty touristic. That is not the main problem, but if you cannot sit on a park bench without getting bothered by local vendors, it really gets annoying. I counted once in 10 minutes seven different vendors who approached me, from Shoe cleaning to Inca Clothes, Pictures, or Sunglasses.
And, as always, the food part. Cusco is famous for Guinea Pigs, but I had no time to eat them. Before my hike to Machu Picchu, I did not favor endangering anything with something I had never eaten. Therefore, the only really local thing in Cusco was an Alpaka Burger. Also pretty nice 🙂
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