Lima + Cusco: a food capital and the road to Machu Picchu
People come to Peru for the Incas, but it is better to start at the coast: Lima is one of the world's great eating cities, and Cusco sits at 3,400 metres, which takes getting used to.
The order matters
Cusco stands above 3,400 metres, and flying straight there is a bad idea: altitude sickness spoils the first days for most people. The right sequence is a few days in Lima at sea level, then Cusco with a slow first day, then the Sacred Valley, which is lower, and only then Machu Picchu. That way the body keeps up.
Lima: three days
Miraflores on the cliff above the ocean with parks and paragliders, bohemian Barranco with its bridge of sighs, the historic centre with the Plaza de Armas and the catacombs of San Francisco. But the reason to linger is the food: ceviche of fish «cooked» in lime juice, tiradito, anticuchos, the best restaurants on the continent and markets where all of it costs very little. The Larco museum with its pre-Columbian ceramics is the finest in the country.
Cusco and the Sacred Valley
Cusco itself is the former Inca capital, where the Spanish built churches directly on Inca foundations, and the join is visible: perfectly fitted polygonal blocks below, colonial masonry above. The twelve-angled stone on Hatunrumiyoc street. Sacsayhuaman above the town. Then the valley: Pisac with terraces and a market, Ollantaytambo, where the trains leave from, Moray with its circular terraces, and the Maras salt pans, worked since before the Incas.
Machu Picchu
You get there by train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and then by bus up the hill. Tickets for both the train and the site are sold by entry time and sell out early — this is the first thing to book, sometimes months ahead. There are routes within the site: climbing Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu mountain needs a separate ticket. The alternative to the train is trekking: the classic Inca Trail over four days with a compulsory guide and a quota, or the alternative routes such as Salkantay.
When to go
May–September is the dry season in the mountains and the best time for Machu Picchu and trekking. From December to March it rains, the paths are slippery, and the Inca Trail closes for the whole of February. Lima runs the other way: from June to November the city sits under the low garua fog with almost no sun — though that does not affect the eating.
The Sacred Valley in order
The valley lies lower than Cusco, so it makes sense to spend the first days there — acclimatisation goes more gently. Pisac: terraces up the slope and a market below. Ollantaytambo: a fortress, the one place where the Incas won a battle against the Spanish, and the departure station for the trains. Moray: concentric terraces resembling an amphitheatre, where by all appearances crops were tested in different microclimates. Maras: thousands of salt pans on a hillside, worked since pre-Inca times and divided between families.
What to eat in Peru
Ceviche — fish in lime juice with onion and chilli, eaten before lunch because the fish is that morning's. Lomo saltado, beef fried with potatoes and soy sauce, a legacy of Chinese migration; such places are called chifa. Aji de gallina, chicken in a spicy nut sauce. Cuy, guinea pig, the local classic served whole. To drink, pisco sour and chicha morada from purple corn. There are several thousand varieties of potato here, and that is not a figure of speech.
Practical matters
Peru is visa-free for a Russian passport with a generous allowance. Altitude is helped by simple things: an easy first day, plenty of water, light food, the local coca tea. Cash soles are needed at markets and on trains. The Lima–Cusco flight takes a little over an hour with many departures, but morning ones are more reliable: mountain airports close for weather more often in the afternoon.
Moscow → Lima → Cusco
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.