Cusco, Peru

After spending just under a week in Cusco, I'm very sad to say goodbye to such a cool city. 

The altitude at 3,300metres took some getting used to at first, not helped by the fact that our hostel was at the top of a massive hill with loads of steps!

We stayed in Loki and absolutely loved it there. The bar is great fun and they serve food all day, and there's hot water bottles in the beds - what's not to love?! 

We started our stay with a walking tour of the city and learned lots about Inca culture. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, but I immediately fell in love with Cusco. One of my favourite places is the market where you can buy anything from souvenirs and alpaca jumpers, to flowers and chocolate, and of course the best fresh local food for a couple of soles.

We finally got our alpaca jumpers (officially travellers now!) and may never ever take them off, they are so cosy for chilly Cusco nights. 

The nightlife in Cusco is hard to beat and we had our best night out so far in Loki, before moving on to a club called Temple. The altitude does have its benefits as we were all very "happy" after about 1.5 drinks! 

Unfortunately the buzz didn't make the steps back up to the hostel any easier!

We are so lucky that our stay coincided with celebrations leading up to The Inti Raymi, or Festival of the Sun. Inti Raymi takes place annually in Cusco on the winter solstice when the sun is farthest from earth, so the Incas held a ceremony to ask the Sun God for his quick return.  

Cusco was flooded with people for the weekend and we saw fireworks, street parties, music and parades (with some mad looking floats!) 

I could go on and on about Cusco and the friends we made here, but for now it's time to say goodbye as we make our way to Puno.