"Cusco - our resting place after the Inca trail" Cusco by rsilva

There were a few things about Cusco that struck me:

- Some very nice Inca architectural remains
- Beautiful churches/colonial building
- Extreme poverty, especially when you leave the main square

It is a strange feeling to be in a place that must have been very different before it was almost destroyed and rebuilt by colonizers. Being Portuguese, I know a bit about colonization and the effects on the occupied countries, but this was actually the first time I visited one of them and must admit I am not very familiar with Spanish/South American history.

The feeling I get is that Peruvians still resent what happened there, but were quite politically correct about it and never openly said anything.

Since we understand Spanish, we had the chance to talk to many more people and that was very important and made the experience much better. Although many people speak English (especially in Hotels and restaurants), it is very basic and even tour guides have difficulties expressing themselves, which is perfectly understandable.

The Christmas market at the Plaza d'Armas

It was quite sad to see a large amount of people begging on the streets. In addition, there are always people trying to sell paintings, postcards, cigarettes, etc.
We had some tours outside the city and it was quite sad to see the general quality of life people have in the suburbs. Houses are very poorly built and will definitely not make for a comfortable living.

It was particularly sad to see that there seemed to be quite a bit of discrimination towards native people (mainly coming from small villages in the mountains). All bad jobs, such as sweeping the streets, working as a porter on the Inca trail (more about that later), etc were performed by them. I could also notice they were not treated in the same way by other Peruvians.

The city seems to live almost exclusively out of tourism, so you are treated quite well, but there is a great pressure on you to spend money.

We were there during the Christmas/New year period and had the chance to visit the Christmas market and it was quite obvious how things work:

- as a tourist, they first try to sell you things at a "high" price (let's say 60 soles for a photo album), then say that since it is for you, they will sell it for 50. If you say you are not interested, the price falls to 40, then 30 and even 25 if you "take it now". This happened almost everywhere... Things are cheap to start with, but you can end buying them for almost nothing, which is quite sad.
We bought a large, hand-made wooden plate which we saw being painted and it took the lady 3 days to complete and we bought it for 50 soles, which is just over $15 US...
You are still ripped of as a tourist, but even then things are very cheap and you notice that labour has almost no value. The fact it takes them 2-3 days to complete a piece, almost does not increase the price.

One of the remaining original Inca walls

Most of the cities buildings are colonial and were built on top of Inca buildings which were destroyed.

There are a few exceptions such as the wall which includes the 12 angle stone (see tip), but most of the things have been destroyed. Some because the traces of the Incas had to be erased, other because there was gold and silver inside the walls, which were removed, melted and sent back to Spain.

Of course, there are also some nice colonial buildings such as the Cathedral which is quite beautiful and well worth a visit

• Pros:The history, architecture
• Cons:The poverty
• In a nutshell:It is after all the "navel of the world"