I had very low expectations for Cusco. I figured it was just a place people stopped over in before heading on to Machu Picchu. But I was wrong. First of all, the 12 hour bus journey from Arequipa to Cusco was beautiful! It was rugged, snow covered mountains, dotted with small villages and locals dressed in traditional clothing. It is what I expect Patagonia to look like. But it was definitely not what I expected to find in Peru!

Cusco is actually a very large, very beautiful city, offering much more than just a stop over place for Machu Picchu.

Due to the fact that it proved more difficult to get my tickets for Machu Picchu than I thought, I had a day to explore the city today. I decided to take one of those open-top double decker sightseeing buses. It headed out of the city and up into the surrounding hills (or are they mountains?), passing by numerous archaeological sites such as Saqsaywaman, Muyuq Marka and Puka Pukara.

Saqsaywaman in particular I thought was very beautiful. My photo doesn’t really do it justice at all! The final stop of the tour was at Christo Blanco (white Christ) statue. From here there were lovely views over the whole of Cusco city and the Cusconian valley.

Tomorrow I will leave Cusco for a couple of days to travel up to Aguas Calientes. The real stop over place for Machu Picchu. I will be traveling there by train. The Vistadome to be precise. A glass topped train for maximum views! And I am just a little bit excited about this! Will be spending tomorrow night in Aguas Calientes so that I can head to Machu Picchu as soon as it opens on Saturday. Hopefully beating the hordes of people and be able to get a few nice photos without tourists!