If you're planning to walk the Inca Trail or visit Machu Picchu, you'll likely end up
spending at least a few days in Cusco. With it's lively square, quirky museums, artisans
markets and traditional performances, this is exactly the type of destination you'll
want to linger in...plus let's not forget, it's also a good place to adjust to the altitude!
The following video will showcase 15 things to do in Cusco:
Cusco Cathedral is a place you shouldn't miss. The cathedral sits on the site of Viracocha
Inca’s palace, and it was also built using blocks from the nearby Inca site of Sacsaywamán.
Inside you'll find impressive works of art done in the cuzqueña style.
So we've been walking around town and we came across this fine example of Inca architecture.
If you take a look at this wall right next to me and you can see how they've like placed
the stones so that there isn't even a crack in between each of them. And apparently we
haven't tried this but you can try and like stuff a sheet of paper and won't even fit
because the stones just sit on top of each perfectly. So, that's pretty cool.
So there is a joke that my tour guide me last time I visited Cusco. And basically he said
there is a section of wall that was built by the Inka. And that is what you can see
behind me. But there is also a section of wall that was built by the Incapables or the
Spaniards. And you can see that over here. And it is quite obvious that the stones don't
really interlock quite the way the Inca were able to make them.
In the evenings, you can go watch a traditional dance performance at Centro Qosqo.
(traditional Peruvian folk music)
San Blas is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cusco and it is a great area to explore
on foot. The neighborhood is known for its bright blue doors and window shutters, and
it has a nice little square with a church and a water fountain. The neighbourhood has
some really cool lookout points with great panoramic views of Cuzco, so you'll want to
bring your camera.
So this afternoon is a bit of a shopping afternoon. And we're at the Qorikancha market. They have
lots of really cool crafts and clothes and really great souvenirs. So I did a bit of
shopping and I'm going to show you. You sure did. My purchase. I'm pretty happy with it.
Look at this. A nice little alpaca sweater. And show us the hat too. It's going to be
really warm for when we walk the Inca trail. Show us the hat. And we got some cool hats
as well. And you've got to try it on of course. Ah, no. Try it on. But it is going to look
silly. You are silly though. But I have a big bun right now. Oh, yeah. We'll zoom in
for that. Come on, smile.
We're going to be trying some traditional food from Cusco. So we've placed our order
and we're waiting for our food to arrive. I'm not entirely sure what to expect because
I've never really tried food from this region. We've been eating light meals since we got
to Cuzco just because we're trying to deal with the altitude sickness, so yeah, this
is our first day that we're ready for our big hearty meal.
So until the meal arrives you've got some nice bread rolls in your hand. Yeah, these
were freshly baked in the oven and can't wait to try them. We have two different kinds of
spicy sauces. They're both called 'aji' sauces, so let's take a look down here and we're going
to dunk it in. Actually there is spoons so I can do it a little more civilized I suppose.
And I will put a little bit of red and a bit of green. Why not.
Let's try that. Mmmm.
Is that burning your mouth? Is your mouth on fire at the moment? Yeah, I'm tasting more
of the sauce than the bread. But the bread is good. It is melting in my mouth. And it
was made in the oven right behind you. Right over there. Right over there. Fancy.
So my meal has arrived. I ordered a soup and I'm having something called Chayro Cusqueño
and if you have a look down over here it is basically a soup with lamb and Andean greens.
I'm not sure what kind of greens those would be. It kind of looks like barley. Um, there
might be some Quinoa in there. I don't really know but it is really hearty and you can see
it has potatoes and carrots and celery and it looks really really good. So let's try
it.
Mmmm.
Oh. Wow!
That's like a nice thick flavorful soup. Um, I can't really tell what these little green
leaves are. I wonder if it is parsley or cilantro.
Mmmm. But it is really nice. I like that is has a really thick texture because of the
potato that breaks apart and you obviously have the grains and the meat. I still haven't
tried the meat. Here is my lamb. So yeah, that is really nice. It's the kind of dish
you want to order on a really cold day to warm you up. And I like that it is served
in a nice cute little bowl that you can warm up your hands. I'm a little bit chilly in
case you can't tell.
So yeah, good soup.
And you ordered something called Pachapapa and we're not entirely sure if that is a name
that the restaurant gave to the meal or if that is really what the meal is called in
this part of Peru. Yeah, we have no idea we just came to this restaurant, ordered it on
a whim and so what I'm thrilled about is that if we take a look at our my plate is that
I've got a lot of different stuff going on. I've got a salad, I've got the meat, I've
got the tamale, I've got potatoes covered in cheese and I have some kind of stuffed
pepper. But being the carnivore that I am I think I will try the meat first.
And can you tell us what kind of meat this is? Because it is not beef. Yeah, it is Alpaca
meat. Alpaca? Indeed!
So pretty special. Dig in. I've never tried Alpaca before. Does it taste like beef? Chicken
or fish? It tastes something like of in between chicken and beef. This particular cut is really
tender and it has a lot of seasonings on it so it is quite good. It's not as game-y as
I thought it would be.
Alright, time to try my tamale. And the tamale is made with corn. Mmmm. Yellow corn.
That's one of the best tamales I've ever had. I think it's got cheese. Yeah, it's got cheese
in there. Mmmm. Oh, my.
I have food envy all of a sudden. That is so good. You better hope I share with you.
Okay, so my kind husband is willing to share this stuffed pepper which I was told has beef
and vegetables and melted cheese on top. So let's take a good chunk since he's in the
mood to share. It's not so much I'm in the mood to share. I'm just not sure I can eat
it all myself.
Mmmmm.
That's like ground beef and man that is actually spicy. My tongue is on fire right now. But
it is tasty obviously because I'm still chewing.
But yeah, nice. I like that you have a very full plate and you get to sample a little
bit of everything.
So we tried to make this as authentic of a meal in Cusco as we possibly could, so I got
my Cusqueña beer. And tomorrow we're going to try and find Cuy.
We are now visiting the Pisco Museum which is a bit unusual. It is not exactly a museum
in the sense that you walk around and look at Pisco bottles or anything like that. It
is more like a bar and you come here to drink Pisco. So we've just placed our order and
we're waiting for our drinks to arrive.
So they had a special happening at the bar so we've ordered four glasses of Chicanos
which are made with pisco, ginger ale and a few drops of bitter. And we were able to
choose different flavors. We have strawberry, cinnamon, this is a classic and this one is
the one you like. What is that? Licorice. Anise. Anise. Alright. Let's start drinking.
Okay, so first up the classic. That is good. Okay. I can taste the alcohol but it is not
so strong that it is like burning my throat. It is like a nice summery drink. Very good.
Bottoms up for Samuel Jeffery. Yeah, I'm trying one of my favorite ones. Anise. So, I have
high expectations. High expectations he says. And unlike your strawberry the Anise is strongly
strongly flavorful here. Oh, that means I would not like it. That means I won't be sharing
this one at all.
And now for a sip of the strawberry. It doesn't have a strong strawberry flavor. I don't know
if they've added a syrup or if it is natural fruit. I mean there is one little piece of
strawberry in there but I don't think that is flavoring the whole glass. Yeah, a nice
girly drink.
And the last one for me to try is the cinnamon flavor. Okay, that one is not nearly as strongly
as flavored. So, anise for the win.
Plaza de Armas is the beating heart of Cuzco. The square is flanked by a Jesuit church and
cathedral, and there are also plenty of bars, restaurants, and tour agencies around the
perimeter. During the day you'll find locals and tourists hanging out in the square, and
if you get lucky, you might just encounter a performance followed by a demonstration
like we did.
The Inca Museum is one of the main museums in town and it has rooms dedicated to different
periods of Inca and Spanish history. You can also see women weaving rugs and tapestries
by hand in the central courtyard.
So we somehow ended up at the chocolate museum in Cuzco. It is very small but you can learn
the history of how chocolate is made and the whole process. And they also have like these
little beans. Apparently, that is what cocoa beans look like. Who knew. I'm kind of hoping
that they have chocolate that we can sample somewhere but I haven't come across that yet.
Fingers crossed.
So did you get to try any chocolate? No, free samples but they have a cool place in the
store where we can purchase chocolate and they also have a cafe as well. And they have
lots of interesting flavors like there is spicy chocolate, cinnamon chocolate, cocoa
leaf chocolate. A bit of everything. If you have any chocolate lovers in your family,
or as among friends, definitely a good gift to pick up here. Great souvenir.
Qurikancha was an Inca temple built to the Sun God, Inti, and it is believed that the
walls of this temple were once covered in sheets of gold. If the temple looks like it
has various layers of construction, that's because when the Spaniards arrived, they demolished
the original temple and used the foundations to build the Church of Santo Domingo on the
site.
The Church of the Society of Jesus is a historic Jesuit church. It's worth a quick visit if
you're in the area.
Okay, so time to spew off a few facts about Guinea Pig. Yeah, so the Cuy is something
we've been wanting to try for a while now. It is one of the most traditional Peruvian
foods you can possibly get. It originates from the Andes. It is a rodent. And apparently
the meat is very high in protein and low in cholesterol. So it is healthy for you! Yeah,
exactly. Who would have known. This is a perfect meal to have just before our hike to Machu
Picchu. Yeah.
So another fun fact, because I know you guys really like those is that if you visit Cusco
Cathedral, once you go inside you'll see that there is a painting of Jesus and the 12 Disciples
enjoying their last supper and guess what they're eating? It's a Guinea Pig and it is
lying on its back with its little paws up in the air. So if Guinea Pig is good enough
for Jesus and his Disciples we can certainly eat it while we're in Cusco.
And they were kind enough to let us go take a look at how it is being cooked and prepared.
So let's go walk over and check out the wood fire burning oven. Just over there. Just over
there. That is where our Cuy is being made.
So our dinner has arrived and I'm trying not to look at the Guinea Pig in the face because
it kind of reminds me of my sister's two pet Chinchillas but there it is on the plate.
And it comes with a few sides so if you look down here you can see that we have some golden
potatoes, some fried yellow potato actually and we have a little salad and we also have
a stuffed pepper with cheese melted over top. So yes, I guess the next step is to dig in
to our Cuy.
So our server has kindly chopped up the Cuy because we didn't really know where to begin
and apparently you have to eat this with your hands.
Yes, so I'm going to grab just a chunk here. It is time for the first bite. Is that like
the back? Oh, the skin.
Wow, the meat is quite tender. You know what it tastes a lot like chicken. If I didn't
know what I was eating I would have guessed it was chicken. That's good to know. It makes
me a feel a little better about taking my first bite.
I think I have the back and the hind leg.
I'm just taking little nibbles. How does it taste?
It's like stringy chicken. How does it taste? It is like stringy chewy chicken. Yeah, like
it even looks like chicken. Like the dark meat on a chicken. So you could fool me but
I've seen the whole Guinea Pig on the plate. So now I know what I'm having and you just
kind of have to get over that because it does make a bit of an impression on you. Especially
if you have Chinchillas for pets because they just look so similar.
So moving on we're kind of taking a bite of its mid-section here. So what you really notice
about when you have Guinea Pig is that the skin is really crispy but the meat inside
is quite tender. I actually like it. We're also noticing that there are some organs and
bones. Yeah, yeah and strange things inside our Cuy. It is very much cooked as it is and
you eat it as it is presented. Yes, that is how you have Cuy in Peru.
Except you are using cutlery instead of your hands. You have it all wrong. Oh, right. That's
right.
So now the verdict. If you saw Cuy on a menu would you order it again? I'm not necessarily
sure I would just because it is a bit expensive and I think that if you were to have something
like chicken or something else you might get a little bit more meat. But I'm really glad
I tried it. It tasted honestly better than I expected and uh yeah if you're Peru definitely
try it though at a least once.
And your final verdict? Well, it didn't taste bad but that being said I'm not sure I would
eat it again. I just don't like seeing the whole animal on my plate. And I know that
is kind of silly to say because I do eat meat. I do eat fish. So it doesn't make sense to
just eliminate Guinea Pig but yeah not for me. Not for me.
Templo de la Merced is another church located one block from Plaza de Armas, and it contains
the tomb of two famous conquistadors.
So nighttime here in Qusqu and it is time for a drink. What are you sipping on? Just
sipping on my Pisco Sour enjoying the nightlife here in Qosqo. Looks like a good drink.
And that's a wrap for Cuzco! We hope you enjoyed this video and that it showed you a few of
the places you can visit while you're in the city. We recommend spending at least 3 days
here, or perhaps a few more if you also want to tour the Sacred Valley. As always, if you
have any other suggestions of things to do in Cusco, feel free to share those in the
comments below.