Our 3rd hotel was located in the ancient Inca city of Cusco.
Cusco, is in the Peruvian Andes, and was once the capital of the Inca Empire. These days its widely celebrated for its phenomenal archaeological remains and Spanish colonial architecture. The population is around 348,000 and the elevation is 11, 151 ft.
Here is where you really need to be mindful of the high altitude (along with the water and the food - you cannot drink the water in Peru) and you should take precautions so as not to become ill. Most of us drank coca tea and munched on coca candy and of course we continued drinking bottled water. There was no nausea or nosebleeds but there were a few headaches and some difficulty sleeping. I, for one, did not sleep more than a few hours each night the entire time we were there. I still had enough energy to enjoy our tours but it was not the best feeling. As soon as we arrived back in Lima the symptoms disappeared and I was able to sleep again.
We planned to stay inCusco for 3 days which would give us enough time to visit the nearby ruins and hopefully a chance to explore the city as well.
The Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Q'enko, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay are situated quite close by to Cusco and can easily be visited in half a day, either independently or part of an organized tour.
We spent 2 days touring all the ruins close to Cusco. That was very exciting and well worth the trip.
A few words about the Sonesta Hotel
I love staying in hotels. I like the amenities they offer and the feeling of being pampered. Room service, concierge, bars and restaurants -- it can't get any better than that for me, however, I'm going to give airbnb a try on our next trip. For this trip I booked 3 nights at the Sonesta in Cusco. I researched hotels online prior to selecting the Sonesta. At this particular hotel I booked a room with a king bed (breakfast included). We were very pleasantly surprised when we ended up with a 2 room suite! And better yet, it had a panoramic view of Cusco!! The hotel had a nice restaurant, where we all had dinner together on our 1st night. After dinner I ordered a Pisco Sour and we invited the group up to our suite to watch the Academy Awards.
Can't say enough good things about the hotel.
You can take a look for yourself in the video below