There are always second chances – so luckily the second try to discover Cusco for us. Back from our Machu Picchu trip, we had two more days until the entire trip was over. So, we wanted to make the best out of it. We woke up around 9 am and got ready to explore. Cusco is such a lovely little town, although a little too touristy, as most of the people get here sooner or later to go to Machu Picchu. It’s a charming city, with little streets, surrounded by mountains.

Henni and I walked around the entire day and explored the San Pedro market, where we walked through the endless streets, had the best smoothies, a nice meal and looked to find souvenirs to bring home with us (for all the Veggies and Vegans out there, you should probably avoid the meat street there, it’s a little hard to handle). I do love markets in different countries as it gives you a very authentic look into the world of the locals, especially from a food kind of view. If you get the change, check out local markets wherever you go, try the food and or simply talk to the people.

On that day, the city had a big celebration around the main square Plaza de Armas in front of Cusco cathedral. I am actually not sure if this celebration was because of the largest pilgrimage of all indigenous nations of America, or to celebrate the beginning of June (summer). It was pretty fun to watch, all the flags (no, these are not gay pride flags) were showing, which stand for all the cultures living in this part of the world, children were dancing on the streets in traditional clothes and the crowd was supporting them along the way.

The day was very nice and the weather was brilliant and we walked all the way up to Iglesia de San Blas. We were suppose to meet some of the people from our Machu Picchu group later that evening, so we went back to the hostel around 5pm to pack everything up as we had to leave Cusco at 6 am the next day to fly to Lima.

Cusco at night is just as pretty as Cusco during the day. We waited for the others at Plaza de Armas and went to have some food (sorry Alpaca) and the best Pisco Sour shot. I don’t get why we didn’t try this earlier but it was super good (Henni has tried it in Berlin every since and said it doesn’t compare at all). After dinner, we went to an Irish Pub for a couple of pins, because thats what you drink when you are in South America (not). Unfortunately I don’t remember the name, but trust me – you didn’t miss much., Afterwards we made our way back to the Wild Rover to pre-party there. If I said it once I will say it again – I can only recommend to stay in the hostel if you are looking for a fun time and are not scared of loud music and raving guests – Wild Rover parties are insane. We had such a good time at the bar and went to the club afterwards. And even though Henni decided to fall into a streetfood grill (hahaha), and even though we didn’t get a lot of sleep, it was definitely the perfect end to Cusco. Thanks to all the amazing people that have made this experience so special. We will be back!

Last stop – Lima

The last stop always comes bittersweet. You want to make the best out of the your last minutes, but at the same time, you know that it’s over very soon. We flew to Lima early in the morning, still very exhausted from the night before. From the airport, we had a pickup service to the Red Psycho Llama Hostel which is located close to Kennedy Park in the district Miraflores. As we arrived pretty early, we had the entire day to explore Lima. Yes, I agree, that is not a lot, but I think we already showed that we used our time wisely.

After walking around in Miraflores for a while and strolling through Kennedy Park (which should be renamed to cat park because there are so many cats just hanging out), along embassies and shopping centers (very popular for tourists to stay here), we took the bus from Miraflores to Plaza San Martin in the city centre which takes around 20 minutes. From there, we walked around Lima and discovered the main attractions and streets, and even though we were oh so tired, we managed to walk around a couple of hours, took some stops to sit and chill and enjoyed the big city vibes.

After the day, we went back to the hostel as Henni had to pack her stuff (she left a couple of hours before me to go to Canada). Afterwards, we went to have dinner right next ti Kennedy Park where you can find so many other restaurants and bars, as I said, pretty touristy. And then it was time to say goodbye. Goodbye to amazing landscapes, awesome people, adventures and four different countries that we have seen during our backpacking experience. Until next time, who knows where we are going next.

Muchas Gracias and hasta luego, America del Sur!