Cusco: The City That Surprised Me (Views, Vibes, and $5 Fried Rice!)

I’ve been sharing my experience in Machu Picchu and the little town right before it, Aguas Calientes. But the city that kicks off the entire adventure — Cusco, hasn’t made its appearance yet. So Cusco is what I’m going to talk about today!

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• Some of my recommendation

  • 1. 🐼 Restaurant - Chifa GOTAKI

  • 2. 👨‍🍳 Restaurant - Aura Restobar Cusco

  • 3. 🦙 Alpaca sweater sold on “street”

Introduction

Cusco is a UNESCO listed city sitting at 3,400 meters above sea level, so sometimes you may have minor hard-to-breath feeling, especially when you climb up those charming small alleys 🤗

The city has a kind of charm that’s hard to put into words. Surrounded by mountains, you might expect a quiet little mountain getaway—but Cusco is surprisingly vibrant, proven by the constant car honks ha; the houses are mostly two floors and look ancient, but modern cars pass by as if nothing is out of place; people have black hair like me, but when you look closely, you realize it’s a completely different ethnicity; some locals wear modern puffy winter jackets, while others dress in elegant suits and traditional hats, like what I saw in Santiago, Chile. It’s a place where the old and the new constantly cross paths I guess.

Plaza de Armas is where many stores surrounded by, I personally enjoyed sitting there and just did people-watching ha. But I couldn’t sit there too long otherwise people would come to try to sell me stuff 😵‍💫; Catedral del Cuzco is the iconic landmark there, I’m sure you would definitely be attracted by its historical appearance. Other than these, I really recommend you walk around and climb up alleys, you’ll get different views!

Some of my recommendation

1. 🐼 Restaurant - Chifa GOTAKI

Not sure if this is run by a Chinese, but their fired rice (炒飯 chǎofàn, Chifa is the way they pronounce Chaofan I guess) is sooooo goood! So is their orange juice! (very fresh!) And the price is unbelievably friendly! We ordered 2 plates of fired rice and a jug of orange juice, it costed ~$5 in total.

Funny story here - when we arrived, I was hungry and hoping to find some Asian food. The color of the store - red then caught my eyes, and my hunch told me it could be a Chinese restaurant. When I walked closer, “Ding Ding!” I was right! I walked in without any hesitation. 😋 Definitely recommend for those craving Asian food like me.

2. 👨‍🍳 Restaurant - Aura Restobar Cusco

We discovered this place while just randomly walking around the alleys. The food was okay, but the view was great—you can clearly see the houses scattered across the mountains. It’s also really quiet, definitely a nice spot for a romantic meal! Or I believe restaurant around that area has the same advantage!

3. 🦙 Alpaca sweater sold on “street”

You’ll see lots of stores selling alpaca sweaters. Some are 100% alpaca, some are not. A decent-thickness, 100% alpaca sweater in a nice boutique usually costs around $100+, while the non-100% ones with lighter knitting can go for about $10. Once you touch them, you can kinda tell the difference—100% alpaca feels smoother and softer.

I ran into a guy selling “100% alpaca” sweaters (that’s what he claimed) while walking down from Aura Resobar Cusco. At first, I didn’t believe him, but once I touched the fabric, it felt just as smooth as the real ones I had checked earlier. By that point, I had already visited over 10 alpaca shops trying to find a Viridis Green sweater with a nice design and a friendly price for my boyfriend lol. So I decided to trust my instincts. It was about $20. Obviously at the price, the thickness isn’t the same with the ones from the boutiques (it’s more like a scarf), but the material is actually quite nice. So if you don’t mind the thickness, just want to buy a nicer material, maybe you can consider checking out those sold on street!