The overnight bus ride to Cusco on our anniversary was pretty horrible. We bought seats in the lower deck and settled ourselves in to sleep, but I woke up around midnight when the heating in the bus was in full effect. It was like an inferno! Other guests were asking them to turn the heat down, but nothing ever happened and next to the heaters at the windows, I was dying.
With my pants and shirt rolled up and shoes and socks off, I sweated the whole night and barely slept. I only managed to not completely overheat by keeping my arm on the cold window to the outside. So I was especially livid when we arrived to Cusco, unlike Kay who had managed to sleep alright in the slightly cooler aisle seat. Lucky guy.
Cusco is a colorful old town, originally used as the capital by the Incas but later changed radically when the Spanish took over. The Incas planned the city in the shape of the sacred puma and it was supposedly a very special place where leaders around the country were supposed to come live for part of the year.
Cusco today is still vibrant, but as a tourist you should be mindful of your things. There are many pickpockets in the city and a female colleague of mine was once harassed by four men on her way home late at night and mugged, so do be careful if you stay out late.
We had planned a few days in Cusco before our trek to Machu Picchu so that we could acclimatize, but since Puno ended up being so high up, altitude wasn’t such a problem. 
Not that I didn’t get sick… On our second day I was having a hard time and became violently ill for a little while. And maybe it was due to the altitude, but everything was a bit worse and I nearly blacked out a couple times while we hailed a cab on the way home from the church above, including the ever-fun darkening and blurring of the vision in broad daylight.
On the first day though, we ate a small breakfast at our AirBNB rental, provided by the sweet Claudia, slept for awhile since the bus ride was tough, and then we had lunch in town before heading up the hills to Sacsayhuaman.
It was actually our host who told us to visit Sacsayhuaman. Kay was talking with the host’s son and all I heard was something like “Sexy woman” in Spanish and two men looking at a screen and going “oooh, yeah… that’s nice!” You can imagine what I thought they were talking about…
It turns out that Sacsayhuaman is actually a citadel on the outskirts of the city, with the crazy huge Inca stones forming the mouth and eyes of the puma that is Cusco.
The day was gorgeous and in the sun it was nice and warm.
In the distance below we saw Cusco’s statue of Christ, but considering that we were going to Rio de Janeiro later this year, we decided to skip the extra costs and focus on Sacsayhuaman.
On our way up, someone is happy about the views. đŸ™‚
Sacsayhuaman provides a fantastic view over the sweeping city, filled to the brim with little red-roof tiled houses.
And the photos show just part of the beauty of Peru, which is quite breathtaking.
Below is pretty much how I pictured Peruvian weather. Perfect.
The only thing a little disappointing about Sacsayhuaman is that there is not very much information about what you are actually looking at. It would be lovely to read some placards or brochures about what everything means, because you already get the sense that this place is quite special.
There’s also the other part of wondering just how those Incas moved all these stones and where they all came from. I think according to our guide on our trek later on, the stones for Sacsayhuaman were actually sourced in the area, unlike the stones for the Inca trail which were brought from all parts of the country to Machu Picchu.
There’s Kay enjoying my new waterproof Exped backpack that I bought for this trip. He was really jealous and wants it for himself. đŸ™‚
Below we were enjoying the fine stonework when some other tourists asked us for a photo.
At first Kay thought they wanted him to take a photo of them, but no… they actually wanted to take a photo of the girl next to Kay, who is basically a giant. I thought it was very funny and couldn’t stop laughing.
We enjoyed the weather until we saw rain clouds moving in and decided to head back down, also because my stomach was starting to give me problems.
Pro tip for the ladies: Always have toilet paper with you even if it’s tissues. For the men, you never know when you need TP either. Better safe than sorry! đŸ˜‰
Back in Cusco, I wasn’t feeling so hot.
We sat down on a bench before my blackouts started coming on and then I begged Kay to get a taxi and take me home where I slept and used the bathroom while Kay explored Qurikancha, which he said wasn’t that interesting.
By night, I felt well enough to go to dinner, plus we had our trek briefing that night, on Halloween.
It was a little funny meeting everyone else in our trekking group while I still felt “off”. I didn’t really want to let the guides know how sick I was that day because I hoped that I was fine the next day. I’ve blacked out often enough that it doesn’t scare me, but it hadn’t happened in a long time.
It was actually funny being in Cusco on Halloween. Because it’s still not a very common holiday, but because they are starting to celebrate it, there were scores of Peruvian kids dressed in costumes and going around the main square collecting treats from businesses. It made getting to and from Alpaca Expeditions a little tricky!
When we arrived back in Cusco, we had to leave the next morning, but I wanted to make sure that Kay could meet the other future INSEAD classmate traveling around South America before school.
So, although we had just returned from trekking five days to Machu Picchu, we showered and went for a late dinner and drinks! Trying to stay in INSEAD tradition by working hard and playing hard.
Unfortunately again, all three of us had bad ice at the restaurant and we all had food poisoning the next day. Kay had it a little less than me, but I was keeping it classy by laying next to the bathroom in the Cusco airport, which fantastically did not have any running water behind security. When the electricity in the airport went out briefly as we were lining up to board our flight, I broke down and threw up on the floor in front of everyone.
Pro tip: Always have a plastic bag on hand to throw up in, but maybe check if it has holes or is sturdy enough for a good hurl. You’re welcome. đŸ™‚
More from our trip to Peru:
Our waitress was American and I was really happy to know that she knew what gluten was and could recommend several things to me.
As I mentioned in our 
Also at lunch after the soup, we got a big bowl of various potatoes, some carrots I think, as well as a big piece of salty goat cheese.
I was really impressed with the cooking the entire homestay because the kitchen was basically a small hovel off the eating area. It looked more like a barn or trash room because the family always swept everything from the eating area into the small kitchen space so that they could pick things up to burn later on. I was SO curious to see how they really cooked in a space like that. It was very small and cramped, with no vents for the smoke.
For dinner we had a kind of carrot and potato mix with rice.
The next morning I was concerned when our mama served us what looked like pancakes. Communicating with Kay’s Portuñol to their dialect of Quechua was a little tricky, but we verified that there was no “Harina de Trigo” and that it should just be made out of corn, so I ate my pancakes with coca tea and they were delicious.
Next on our homestay tour, we had left AmantanĂ Island and headed to Taquile Island where we had a big goodbye lunch before heading back to Puno. Here I asked our guide to make sure the food was OK for me. 
First up was some quinoa soup. We realized on the trip that quinoa, which we eat so often now with my celiac diet, often comes from Peru, and that the local diet uses it heavily, to my benefit.
For lunch we had a choice and I picked fresh fish with a side of rice, fries, and some veggies. I also purchases an additional Coke out of the homestay package because I felt icky and headachey and it took my headache right away. After that, I pretty much felt fine and headache-free from the altitude for the rest of the trip. Still extra winded though. đŸ˜‰
Back in Puno, I wanted to go back to 
For my main, I got the grilled trout fillet with a passion fruit and rocoto pepper sauce, served with sautĂ©ed vegetables. And a Pisco Sour, because we’d hiked a tough walk on AmantanĂ Island. đŸ˜‰
For dessert, I got my brownie and shared a tiny bit with Kay, who was quite stuffed himself.
On our fourth day in Puno, we thought we’d try something else out and we had the dreaded breakfast search, which is honestly still the worst part of traveling as a celiac. I’d eaten a snack bar or two before we found 
Muña tea and espresso were ordered, as well as juice because it was breakfast for us.
The menu was not extremely gluten-free friendly, but I got some kind of frittata that met my needs.
We also decided to split some chicken kebabs. Looking at them is making me hungry again.
After we walked up to the Condor in Puno, we stopped at the cafe again for some classic Inca Kola, which is like bubble gum flavored pop.
I also ordered a quinoa soup because breakfast didn’t fill me enough.
And they were so kind to give us more corn to munch on.
For our last meal before our night bus to Cusco, we just went back to 
It tasted alright, maybe a bit more gamey than chicken or beef. It was a bit hard to get all the meat off the bone though and I ended up finishing it chicken-wings style.
Up next, we arrive in Cusco the days we’d planned to acclimatize to the altitude we just encountered in Puno. Oops.
There is a special hat just for the leader of the community as well as hats for men and women to give a signal if they are single, dating, or married.
It was also interesting to learn that men, not just women, learn how to weave and knit. But some boys just want to quit school because they can make more money with needles faster than by studying, so it’s a problem for the community to deal with if they want to educate their youth.
Peru is also full of the most darling little children, dressed similarly to their mothers.
I wasn’t feeling so hot on this island. I wasn’t sure if it was altitude sickness or a stiff neck causing my headache, but after my Coke at lunch, I’m wondering if I was going through some caffeine withdrawal. Still, I slowly made it up the hill with all the others to a wonderful view.
We could pay to use bathrooms from locals on this island, and they are not all the same.
We thought the sign below was funny because Paris was on there, where we had just been on the weekend for 
After our stop in the square, we hiked a little further up to our lunch destination.
Woolly sheep were to be seen along the way. đŸ™‚
And below was the view from the lunch table. It was incredible!
We were sat literally at the edge of the outlook.
Kay was impressed.
After lunch we started to slowly make our way down the hill.
Before going down, I enjoyed a very nice toilet experience with toilet paper and soap and water. After staying in the homestay and visiting the other islands, this was really luxurious. I was impressed with the soap!
We hiked all the way down to the boats below. Or you could just say “walked”, because it was pretty easy going.
I was definitely feeling more smiley after my Coke at lunch! đŸ™‚
On the boat back to Puno.
Back in Puno, we had another evening and full day before our night bus from Puno to Cusco. I wish we had cut Puno a day short and Cusco a day or two shorter, because we really could have fit another trip in, but alas… we did not know.
We were led to the second level of the house to a small funny, very short door that you had to duck to get into the room. There we found a nice clean bedroom with low ceilings and separate beds. No cuddling for Kay. đŸ˜‰
We were the only ones staying in the four bedroom room, so we dropped our things and made ourselves comfortable. Below you can see how much taller Kay was than the short door. The locals were not tall, but I like to believe that the house was also made for hobbits. đŸ™‚
It was a lot to take in, these new surroundings that were SO different than our Swiss house back home.
I was a little nervous about eating. I had asked the guide about my celiac gluten problems and he said that it shouldn’t be a problem. The locals on the island mainly eat a diet of mainly corn and one of the 4000 varieties of potatoes in Peru.
Our mama also showed us that the little plant on the table is not for decoration. It is actually muña tea leaves. She showed us to take some and put it in our cups with hot water. It was so delicious, I actually preferred it over coca tea. It has a bit of a minty flavor.
Chickens in the front yard, although meat is eaten pretty seldom on the island.
The house had a water tap out in the front yard and this was the only water supply. There was no running water in the house, including the bathroom. I was pretty happy that Kay brought his hand sanitizer! We would flush by using a bucket of rain water. I am used to flushing by bucket by now, but in Thailand we could usually wash our hands in running water, so this was something new to me, to see how people live with very minimal amenities. 
Down by the coast, the scenery was beautiful, but still pretty cold. It warmed up a little during the day, but it was freezing by night. The people here are used to both the altitude and the harsh weather conditions. Many of the women did not need shoes and still had the warmest hands!
Kay and I were enjoying the warmth from walking up the hills. We needed to take our time, being out of breath, but it was the first time that we were really warm! đŸ™‚
The island has a school for the children, much like the floating islands, but it was on the other side of the island from where we stayed. The youngest daughter in the house needed to get up early and walk across the whole island every day to go to school. We were a little surprised to see she had some Western items like a new-age backpack, with all her other very traditional Peruvian clothing.
I was still feeling headache-y and nauseous from the altitude, so we took a little rest before dinner. It was like being a little hungover all day long, but the head just felt a bit stuffed up or blocked somehow. We drank more coca, but we didn’t have any altitude sickness tablets, so we just tried to bear through it.
There wasn’t much time to rest before it was dinnertime. I was really interested to poke my head in the cooking area of the kitchen.
On one side sat a little stove where our mama would stuff things in to burn. We kept seeing her sweep things into the cooking area from the rest of the kitchen like leaves or trash, which she would then put into the stove to keep it fired up. We could tell there is not an extreme amount of education on the island, because our mama had no qualms about putting in pieces of plastic to burn without knowing the ill effects. It burns, right?
You guys, this baby alpaca was the CUTEST THING EVER. He was so still and docile, he would just stand next to the stove and look at the fire. I wanted to eat him up. (And not in the way that I ate up other alpacas on this trip…)
Here you can see a bit more of how our mama’s daughter could heat the skillet up from below. I thought it was so impressive how wonderful these women could cook with such rudimentary means.
Meanwhile, mama started feeding the baby alpaca. Cue the squeals from all the cute.
If you aren’t in love with this baby alpaca by now, I can’t help you.
After dinner we met our guide again and started a hike up to the peak of the island, to an altitude of 4200m to complete the same pilgrimage that the locals make once a year, including a small ceremony to walk around the peak’s prayer area three times for good luck.
From there, we waited for the sun to set over a magnificent landscape.
The locals on the island were of course selling their wares, which Kay supported by buying a scarf. I had already bought a hat from my mama’s family earlier in the day, so I declined more purchases. It was a little awkward being put in the buying position, but the cost was so little to us and would help the locals out, so we played into the scheme.
Others bought items as well, and the path was lined with locals wanting to sell their hand woven wares. At least you knew on this island, that the goods were more or less really made by hand and not machine-knit like the goods in the Puno markets. Although we were so chilled in our place in Puno that we’d ended up buying some sweaters there anyway.
As the sun set, the temperature quickly started dropping back to freezing. Brrr. We ran the gamut from sweating up the hill to shivering at the top and sweating on the way back down.
Although it took a lot for the heart to climb up, the view was definitely worth it.
Here I am in my new hat. Kay thinks it’s weird and knobby, but I think it’s unique and has character. đŸ™‚
Back down in the town, our papa picked us up and we headed back to the house in the dark, with our headlamps on and our papa using a hand-generated flashlight. The locals have a little electricity in the homes with solar panels giving light, but that’s about it. We thought it was great that he can use the hand-cranked flashlight.
While I felt a little insecure dressing up in a culture that I didn’t really understand, our mama and papa seemed happy to invite us into their family for an evening of dancing. The whole stay seemed like they genuinely enjoy showing their lifestyle to foreigners, and make some extra money off of it as well.
Shortly after the photo, we went home earlier than the others because Kay still had a pretty bad headache from the altitude. I also wasn’t feeling great in the head.
I’ve never seen this much hail left outside after a storm, but it hailed for an hour at least until turning back to rain for several hours during the night. Thankfully in the morning it had finished so that we didn’t need to pack up in the rain. Also, the tin roof was expertly made so that none of our belongings got wet. I was very impressed by the craftsmanship.
Kay’s head felt better the next morning, but I felt a little awful. I think I was having a combination of altitude sickness and caffeine withdrawal or a neck/shoulder issue, because I felt horrible until I had some Coca Cola later that day on Taquile Island. More on that next.