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Cuzco & the

Includes  Why Go? Cuzco...... 197 Incas deemed this spot the belly button of the world. A visit Pisac...... 236 to Cuzco tumbles you back into the cosmic realm of ancient Urubamba...... 240 Andean culture – knocked down and fused with the colo- ...... 245 nial splendors of Spanish conquest, only to be repackaged as a thriving tourist mecca. Yet Cuzco is only the gateway. Aguas Calientes...... 249 Beyond lies the Sacred Valley, Andean countryside dotted ...... 253 with villages, high altitude hamlets and ruins linked by trail The Inca Trail...... 259 and railway tracks to the continent’s biggest draw – Machu Cuzco to Puno...... 261 Picchu. Piquillacta & Old ways are not forgotten here. Colorful textiles keep ...... 262 vivid the past, as do the wild fiestas and carnivals where pagan tradition meets solemn Catholic ritual. A stunning Abancay...... 270 landscape careens from Andean peaks to orchid-rich cloud forests and Amazon lowlands. Explore it on foot or by fat tire, rafting wild rivers or simply braving the local buses to the remote and dust-worn corners of this far-reaching, cul- Best Places turally rich department. to Eat ¨¨Cicciolina (p225) ¨¨La Bodega 138 (p225) When to Go Cuzco ¨¨Huacatay (p243) °C/°F Te mp Rainfall inches/mm ¨¨Indio Feliz (p252) 40/104 12/300

¨¨Marcelo Batata (p225) 30/86 8/200 20/68

10/50 4/100 Best Places 0/32 to Stay -10/14 0 ¨¨Machu Picchu Pueblo J FDM A M J J A S O N Hotel (p251) High Cele­ ¨ Jun–Aug Late Jun Sep & Oct ¨Apu Lodge (p247) season for tour­ brate the solstice Shoulder season ¨¨Ecopackers (p217) ism, events and at Inti Raymi, the for tourism, with festivals; days are largest festival of fewer crowds in ¨¨Niños Hotel (p218) sunny and nights the year. Machu Picchu. ¨¨Inkaterra La Casona (p220) cold. Cuzco & the Sacred Valley Cuzco 197

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Vitcos Río Kiteni Machu Picchu Abancay Ivochote Huancacalle 0 0 Drinking in the sublime in Drinking Getting swept into into swept Getting Hiking through traditional traditional Hiking through Cachora 26 edrals squat over Inca temples, mas temples, Inca over squat edrals 3 Vilcabamba Pongo de Mainique Cuzco Highlights & The Sacred Valley the colorful frenzy of a of frenzy the colorful (p216). festival traditional villages and terraced agri­ and terraced villages on the spectacular culture (p45). trek Lares 3 2 1 Machu Picchu of grandeur (p253). Ampay 084 / POP 427,000 / ELEV 3326M (5228m) Choquequirau % sage hawkers ply the narrow cobblestone ply the hawkers sage streets, skirttraditional in and a woman to a pet water llama bottled bowler offers Cuzco (also Cuzco capital, Inca Cosmopolitan thrives today Quechua) in Qosq’o or ­, contradiction.of measure a with Ornate ­ cath CUZCO