Ayacucho - Cusco (day 7)

Friday night we caught the overnight Cruz del Sur "Imperial Class" bus from Ayacucho to Lima. This bus was not bad (and included a bathroom, most importantly). The Imperial Class is not as nice as a BussCama (extreme reclining seat) but for s/50 ($15) this was not a bad deal as opposed to flying ($104).

Once in Lima, we took a taxi to the airport (s/23) and caught a flight to Cusco ($96) on Aero Condor. We found Areo Condor to have good service, and they are much less crowded than Lan Peru, which allows people to pre-purchase tickets from the U.S., etc.

We arived in Cusco in the late morning to find a four-man Andean band playing "traditional" music at the baggage claim. This was a bit off-putting but we'd pretty much expected as much fom the tourist-swarmed city of Cusco.

Cusco is a beautiful city, with winding pedestrian pathways, grand cathedrals and incredible Inca stonework. Unfortunately Cusco's charm is completely negated by the hordes of tourists crowding the streets and the vendors who cater to the tourist trade. Hundreds of shops selling cheap imitation artisan crafts, shamanistic rituals, massages and hippie gear line the streets around the Plaza de Armas. The dozens of people dressed up in "traditional" costume (the creepiest of which is "Inca Guy", permanently stationed in front of a large Inca wall in the San Blas neighborhood) contributed to the overal feeling that we were in Disney World, not a Peruvian city. And if Cusco is Disney World, then the Plaza de Armas is Epcot Center, with its array of less than mediocre international cuisine. We could not walk five feet without getting accosted with offers of places to eat, shiatsu masages, bad art and finger puppets. Not to mention that the prices here (for just about everything) are about 5 times the prices elsewhere in Peru.

"Inca Guy" on the far right (if I'd gotten any closer they'd make me pay for the photo):

All in all, we were saddened by the fact that the experience of Cusco had been completely muddled by tourists and the crap that surrounds the tourist trade. We did, however, find one restaurant worthy of mention: the Australian owned Los Perros wine and couch bar. The food here was excellent. We enjoyed the wontons with three dipping sauces (honey-soy, guacamole, and cheese/cream), potato skins with mint-cream sauce and guacamole, Indian curry, and an Asian style Mediterranean salad. Dinner averaged a hefty s/70 (we ate here twice).

Near the Plaza de Armas:

Overall Opinions:
Cruz del Sur Ayacucho to Lima: 7. Not bad service, though not as fancy as some of the other Cruz del Sur routes. Cost: s/50.
AeroCondor Lima to Cusco: 8. Not crowded at all, price comparable to Lan. There were slight delays however.
Los Peros Wine & Couch Bar, Cusco: 9. Delicious. Only problem was the price.
Hotel Turistico San Blas, Cusco: 5. This place was way overpriced for what we got. "Hot" water was often lukewarm, water pressure was very low, room was somewhat dingy. Cost: $30 per night for a double.

Cusco in general: 2. This entire city seems to have turned into one big tourist trap. Yuck!