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.