HOSTELS CUSCO PERU

Hostels Cuzco

The beginning point is the modest village of Cachora, about five hours from Cusco on the road to Abancay. From there you have a beautiful view of Nevado Salkantay as the trail goes down to the Apurimac River. There is a large bridge crossing the river and then you climb up steeply to the ruins of Choquequirao, a total distance of about 29 Km. There are a number of rest stops and kiosks along the way, most of which provide camping and meals. From there the trail continues to climb to a pass, then drops down to the Rio Blanco, with much more ruins shortly ahead of the river. Immediately after crossing the river on a log bridge the trail climbs again, up to Maizal, which has great camping, then continuing on up via jungle on an Inca Trail to Victoria Pass. The jungle abruptly ends ahead of the pass, shortly right after which you pass old abandoned mines and then drop down to the village of Yanama. Choquequirao to Yanama is about 30 Km.

From Yanama the trail follows the Yanama river through a valley, which soon provides spectacular views of a number of snow and glacier capped mountains. Here there is a gentle climb up to the best of the valley, and then a brief steep climb up to Yanama Pass. The trail, frequently just a foot path, sometimes almost disappearing in the grass, then drops down to Totora, with more wonderful scenery if it isn't cloudy. Here there are a couple of stream crossings that would possibly want to be forded for the duration of the rainy season. Nonetheless, preserve your eyes and ears open and be aware of your surroundings. We walked all around the center of the city, including to the train station and nearby tourist market place and didn't have any issues.

A very good spot to remain in Cusco is at the hostel Suecia II, it is a clean and airy spot, with a covered courtyard, run by a friendly older brother and sister, who don't speak any English. A double room is 15 soles per person for a shared bath and 25 soles per individual with a private bath. An American style breakfast with eggs is 6 soles, 7.50 for four eggs rather of just two. They will also store your added luggage although you are hiking. It is a common location for hikers to keep, and reasonably quiet, though there is some noise from the music at nearby restaurants in the evening. It is situated much less than two blocks from the plaza, with Internet cabinas, restaurants and laundry services, as nicely as tour agencies and trekking provide shops lining the street to the plaza. They do not have a web site but you can make reservations by phone at 51- 84-239757, address is Calle Teccecocha #465.

All details and rates were existing as of November, 2008.

Cusco (also Cuzco), capital to the former 'Incan Empire' (1200s-1532), is nestled in the heart of the Andean mountains some ten,800ft above sea level in the interior of Peru. It was declared a world heritage internet site by UNESCO in 1983 and receives nearly a million guests each and every year.