"Money for photos: Is it authentic?" Top 5 Page for this destination Cusco Tourist Trap Tip by AKtravelers

While it is true that many people in Cusco and the Sacred Valley still wear clothes that would be considered traditional by American standards, not everything you see will be authentic. Sadly, most of the people dressed in the elaborate, colorful old clothing are just wearing it to make money from photographers eager to take their picture. This was somewhat dissillusioning, especially when I realized that many of the best photos I saw in tourist literature or travel books probably were staged, paid for events. You know those pictures of the cute little girl in colorful clothes holding a baby llama? It's most likely staged.

Unique Suggestions: Still, some of the children are beautiful in their colorful attire and certainly worhy of a photo. So, we decided only to take pictures of people who did justice to their traditional clothes, kept them clean and acted politely. This is BY FAR a minority of those wishing to be photgraphed. And, for the best of these, we would give more than the one sole asking price. One such person was this girl to the left, who posed beautifully against a backdrop of mountains.

Fun Alternatives: If you don't want to take any such pictures, you can get people dressed as they normally would in the PIsac farmers's market and at the outside friday happy hour in Aguas cAlientes (see our Machu Picchu page).