5 Must Do Things Around Cusco

We visited several places and sites around Cusco and here were my favorites!

Located near Cusco is Tambomachay, which was my favorite ruin site. It consists of three terraces of Inca stonework, with niches built into some of the walls. A natural spring feeds into small aqueducts, canals, and waterfalls built into the terraces. It is believed to have been a ceremonial site, an Inca spa, or a military outpost. Sitting at about 12,150 feet above sea level, it took us some time to climb to the top so needless to say we were all out of breath, but we made it! When we turned around there were beautiful views and a rainbow that passed in front of a mountain….really a site to see! This is the tour where we met Paul, our guide at Machu Picchu!

Another ruin to visit is Sacsayhuaman (pronounced ‘sexy human’) and means ‘Royal Eagle’. It is the largest fortress built by the Incas during the reign of Pachacuti (1438 – 1471). The stones were carved by using hard stones and bronze tools. Many are over thirteen feet high and weigh roughly four tons! It’s beautiful to walk through and llamas roam around on the grounds.

Hidden in the Sacred Valley near Cusco is the Salt Mines of Maras. It’s known as one of the largest salt extraction centers of prehistoric origin, in operation for over 500 years. Each mine is owned by a family, with some families owning several. The pools are fed by an underground spring that will evaporate, producing crystals of the famous Peruvian pink salt. You can almost get lost watching the water trickle down to the ponds, while admiring the views of the Andean mountains. I’m not sure why there was a heart of flowers there, but we sure had fun with it! And yea, we were dirty from an ATV tour prior to this site visit.

One thing that’s a must in Cusco is visiting a market. There markets are filled with Peruvian souvenirs, varieties of meat, cheeses, and more. I bought a few small things from the market with vibrant colors. The colors in Peru are more along the lines of the bohemian vibes I recall in Tulum, MX and I adore them! We also bought a pack of some chuta bread for everyone to try. It’s a large round bread that tastes slightly sweet. We had our villa staff toast it for us for breakfast and it was delicious! Sorry, didn't get any fun pictures of the markets.

There are many alpaca farms located around Cusco. We visited two and the women

working at the farms gave us a tour on the different alpaca wools and showed us how the wools are dyed. Each color is dyed naturally by things like bugs….yes, bugs! We were all mesmerized by how sacrificing a bug can turn wool yarn into a beautiful red color. Other colors are created by mixing the yarn with different plants, truly fascinating to watch. They also taught us how to tell a real alpaca garment from a fake one. Alpaca wool is cool to the touch and soft, whereas cheap, fake alpaca (typically from China) is warm and itchy. Vicuna is the rarest alpaca and has the softest wool. You’ll also pay the premium price for the vicuna items, $100’s more! We wanted to buy local alpaca items, so we bought a few items from the farms.

These are only a few places we visited. There are many more sites and things to do in the Cusco area. What sites would you visit around Cusco?