My Love/Hate Relationship with Cuzco

I don't know what to think about Cuzco.  In a span of an hour I can go from happily snapping great photos and wondering through the excellent colonial structures to cursing at the very ground that it sits on. 

Love it!

Food - You can't really swing a dead cat without running into a restaurant in Cuzco.  If you ignore the touts on the street trying to get you into a specific restaurant (see "Hate it" below) there are some excellent food opportunities.  I've been able to have a great stuffed alpaca, lomo saltado (stirfry steak), great soups, and there's more where that came from. 

Drinks - People know how to drink here.  In addition to the standard local beers (ho hum), there are bars that serve English beers at prices that are less than what you can get it for in the US or UK.  In addition, there seems to be a wide variety of mixed drinks that you can't get at home including the famous Pisco Sour and the infamous Coca Sour (it's like a Pisco Sour but with some added coca leaves...that's the leaf that cocaine comes from if you're wondering).

Architecture - We've seen a lot of colonial cities, and Cuzco is definitely one of the better ones.  There are narrow cobble-stone streets and most of the doors and walls are wonderfully cracked and worn.  Some of the buildings are built on old Incan temples (Spanish conquistadors are not nice people) so you can get your fix of Spanish colonialism and Incan history all in one spot!

Hate it!

Entrance Fees - I understand charging to enter a church or a historical site, but the prices are rediculous.  You want me to pay more than 10 dollars to enter a church?  Are you kidding me?  I just payed half that for 2 3-course lunches.  Yes, you could get a Tourist Ticket which gets you into all of the important places, but then we're talking about paying $30 to go to a bunch of places, most of which I don't want to see.  In other countries (Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia) for $2 you can climb up on the roof and the bell towers of the churches, sometimes with a guide included.  I feel like it is a blatant way to extort too much money from the tourists.

Peddlers - It's seriously impossible to walk one block without having at least 3 people try to sell you something.  No, I can find my own restaurant, thanks.  No, I don't want to buy postcards.  No, I don't want my tennis shoes shined.  No, I don't want a picture of your llama.  No, I won't trade you my jacket for some paintings (seriously, that's what he asked me).  Ah!  Just let me walk in peace! 

Tours, tours, tours - I think it's worthwhile to get a guide to get extra information about something you might not know anything about.  However, there seem to be so many tours here that cost too much for little gain.  I've seen full day tours where you get to see 4 sets of ruins, but a quick look at a map will tell you that you'll spend nearly the whole day in a bus and about 20 minutes at each site.  I'm sure there are some quality tours around, but a lot of them seem to be of the "hurry up and see everything" variety.


I guess I should be a little more chill about my perception of Cuzco: it is what it is.  My only fear is that people don't walk away from their Cuzco trip and think that all of Latin America is this way as Cuzco is an exception to the rule.  It's a beautiful city if you can put on your ear muffs and enjoy its colonial grandeur and top-class culture.