149 - Cusco, Peru ... We're ba-ack

We've spent the last three weeks in Cusco, studying Spanish,
enjoying the history, and being frustrated with problems here on
the site. we haven't done all the touristy things, but we've been
enjoying relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere. Cusco Cusco is
incredible. It's supposed to be laid out like a puma, but we
haven't really seen it. It's in a valley, with the centre of action
as the Plaza de Armas. Up one side of the valley is the hippy
district of San Blas, with the head of the puma at the top. That's
where the iconic White Christ is situated, with the Sacsaywaman
fortress nearby. Food One thing that we love about travel is the
food. And Cusco has a lot of it. We enjoyed juice and beer
milkshake in the market, lots and lots of menus del dia, and the
street food was varied and interesting. It was just sad that we
only found that empanada vendor near our school in our last week.
Things to do There's heaps to do around Cusco. It's the jumping-off
point for Machu Picchu, and if you don't want to pay through the
nose, there are lots of other ruins nearby too. We loved Tipon and
our visit to the Sacred Valley with our friend Renzo. ATMs We've
done a bit of experimenting here in Peru to find the best ATMs.
Globalnet is really prevalent, and is often found in shops and
hotels, but they have a limit of 400 soles and they charge you on
this end to withdraw cash. We like BCP, which has a 700 sol limit
and there's one in the Plaza de Armas and one around the corner on
Avenida del Sol. School We've been studying at Wiracocha Spanish
Language school on Cuesta San Blas, which is situated in the hilly
hippie district of San Blas. There's a lot of nice places to stay
around here, though the backpacker district is on the other side of
the Plaza de Armas. We really enjoyed Cusco, and it's definitely
worth a visit. Make sure you see what it has to offer, don't just
get caught up in the tourist trail.