Following Inca's steps to Machu Picchu I.
I took a quite comfortable bus from Puno to Cusco and arrived around 7 am on a lovely rainy day. I planned to stay with a Couchsurfing guy called Joel and was going to spend several unforgettable days with local people. Joel and his friend Cesar have a little hostel located around twenty minutes from the centre of town. To compare to regular guests, I stayed in a small room full of Joel's staff and had a shared bathroom across the corridor. However, I was going to have a lot of incredible experiences off the beaten tourist track.
Although it was supposed to be the end of the rainy season, it was raining every day. I decided to spend several days in this historical Inca city to get properly acclimatised. Cusco is situated over 3.500 meters above sea level. I was going to do my first trek into more than 4.500 meters in the coming days.
Joel became my private city tour guide and took me to touristic and non-touristic places, told me about Inca history and showed me the local market. I got the most exhilarating experience visiting a little local pub - "ciceria", where "cica" is served. Cica is a typical Peruvian drink, which is made from corn. There are two variants of cica, one is a nonalcoholic beverage and the second is a fermented drink with a little alcohol. I wouldn't have any idea to come into this spot by myself, but I felt very comfortable being there with my new friend. We hiked up through a narrow street and went through a little door and then had to climb down steep stairs to a very simple but very local room with an incredible view of the city.
There were already some local men, the mountains guides, who took me up like an old friend. Tiny old grandma got us two glasses of cica and wrote the notes on a table with chalk. The atmosphere was completed by few Peruvians playing the guitar, flute, and drum, rhythmically singing songs in the Quechua language.
There were already some local men, the mountains guides, who took me up like an old friend. Tiny old grandma got us two glasses of cica and wrote the notes on a table with chalk. The atmosphere was completed by few Peruvians playing the guitar, flute, and drum, rhythmically singing songs in the Quechua language.
This authentic experience cost me just a few cicas for me and Joel (the price of half a litre of this tasty Peruvian drink is approximately 20 cents). You can't get this experience with any tourist agency!!!
Be open and friendly!