A Day in Cusco

r↵It’s been less than 48 hours and it feels like weeks. We flew Avianca to Cusco. Let me tell you... there’s some serious hidden messages in terms of air fare. No one seems to give the same answer so let me give it to you in a nutshell.

• ​resident and non-resident air fare is real
• Avianca will charge you a fee of 178$ per ticket if you have the wrong one
• It says it directly on their website (Don’t buy econo or super econo)
• DON’t buy from Priceline. They sell you econo tickets. You’ll be very surprised when you get to the airport...
• Buy straight from the airline website and make sure to get Flexi. Trust me. Especially for the Lima to Cusco.

​
Priceline is horrible. Ok. I’m done. But seriously... horrible and disrespectful. Ok. I’m really done this time. Anyway, we got a green taxi (safe) right at the airport and went to our hotel El Balcon. We got a taste of Peruvian driving. Man. It’s scary. 80-100mph down the road, weaving in and out. Stop signs are optional. So are turning signals. It was ... an experience.

El Balcon is a little bit away from Plaza de Armas - Cusco. However, it’s really beautiful. It felt like a little retreat. Everything is organic and they have a fabulous onsite kitchen/restaurant. The food is damn good and fairly priced. This is one hotel I would totally stay in again. The room was so cute. A white painted stone wall. No TV. Comfortable bed. A door that was from Times past with a vintage padlock. They even had these little windows you could open to see outside. It felt like a little hobbit home.

Seriously. How cute is this place? You’d stay here too. Errr you should stay here! 😄

The restaurant was great! They had a fixed menu but it was all fresh. I mean... everything was fresh. You could even see the pasta noodles draped over from them making them in the morning. I fell in love with this little hobbit town. The breakfast was free! Fresh fruit, oatmeal, eggs any way and some different jams and breads. Different kinds of tea and juices. Of course, there was coffee too. Often you’d find travelers just sitting by the wood stove for heat. It was cold in Cusco. We didn’t quite expect that but packed for blizzard and a heat wave.

The food was aesthetically pleasing and delicious! Pasta with sausage, one of their salads and chicken soup was for dinner. Our Peruvian friend Daniel said that people from Cusco eat a lot of soup. He also recommended to eat light since the altitude is higher. Muuuuuch higher and digestion is slow. Good advice. I ate light and it still bothered me. More about altitude sickness, etc. later. Check out breakfast. I miss having someone serve me eggs in the morning. 😕

El Balcon. A diamond in the rough. Onward to free walking tour!