Peru, Day 6 - Cusco

Our next major destination was Machu Picchu. However, we'd been warned that we would need to acclimate to the higher elevation before hiking all over the Incan ruins, so we spent a day in Cusco first, which is higher than Machu Picchu.

The low air pressure at this altitude was no joke. Upon arrival, we discovered that the bottles of lotion and toothpaste we'd brought with us would spray out everything they contained upon opening. Also, our hotel was located a short distance uphill from the main square, and we had to huff and puff and take breaks on the climb up to our hotel.

Cusco, however, is an adorable city. The streets are paved with stones and the homes are tiled Spanish-style:

As you can see from the photo, it's situated in a little valley surrounded by peaks. At night, the main square is lit up with a constellation of lights from homes built on the surrounding slopes.

We took it easy our first day in this region, just exploring the area around the main square at Plaza de Armas and eating a nice lunch at Limo, an upscale restaurant situated right on the Plaza, serving really delicious seafood. For the rest of the day, we simply rested.