Cusco, Peru, the city that is widely considered the gateway to the great Inca site Macchu Picchu, was once the former capital of the Inca Empire. Most journeys to Macchu Picchu begin with a flight, train, or bus trip to Cusco, followed by further travel to Aguas Calientes, and finally a bus or hike up to the Macchu Picchu ruins. If you have heard of ancient civilizations that are still standing, you would be familiar with Macchu Picchu. It is located high in the Andes Mountains and is considered a feat in Inca-era architecture and engineering; it also has a stunning backdrop of mountains and cloud-covered peaks. Whenever anyone goes to Peru, a usual first and expected question one will get is, “Are you planning to visit Macchu Picchu?” We got this question quite a lot.

When this South American trip was first booked, my first thought was: are we actually going to be able to see Macchu Picchu on this trip given we’re traveling with a 3.5-year-old? And after reading endless blogs, online forums, and Reddit, we ultimately made the decision that the long journey itself there with multiple transfers/modes of transportation, on top of all the altitude changes, may be a bit too much for Kaia (and us) to bear all at once. So, we x-ed out Macchu Picchu and started focusing on other areas in and around Cusco to see. Once we made this decision, though, it became very, very clear that we wouldn’t actually miss much skipping Macchu Picchu because Cusco and its surrounds have endless beautiful scenery, architecture, and other archeological sites to visit and explore. Cusco, given it’s the former capital of the Inca Empire, is a UNESCO World Heritage city in itself and could easily occupy 2-3 days of sight-seeing and eating alone, all by foot. We were told that aside from Macchu Picchu, there are over 200 other sites/hiking trails that you can visit that are within driving distance or within city limits. So, we’re exploring Cusco and taking a day trip to see different parts of the Sacred Valley tomorrow.

Today, we explored Cusco by foot. We visited Sacsayhuaman, a fortress built by the Incas in the 15th century. The complex is located on top of a steep hill that overlooks the city. While we took the stroller with us, it ended up being pretty useless because of the uneven rocky/dirt roads as well as the cobbly streets. The hike up was brutal; Chris managed to wrangle Kaia to walk the entire way up, while I had to carry our day bag along with the dreaded stroller on my own (frankly, Chris had the harder job, as I would NOT have been successful in convincing Kaia to do a steep uphill climb on my own the way he was). Along with the altitude change, it meant that the hike was hot, sweaty, huffy, and puffy, even if the temperature was only mid- to high 60s in Cusco City. We had taken altitude medication about 48 hours ahead of arriving in Cusco (having anticipated being 11,152 feet / 3,399 meters above sea level), but the air still felt harder to breathe, and each step up felt like a challenge. At Sacsayhuaman, there are megalith walls, interesting windy and dark tunnels (that also revealed how short the Incas were!), and lots of beautiful views of Cusco down below.

The site also had these huge, smooth rocks that looked like natural “slides.” We saw a number of people slide down, and Chris suggested I do it with Kaia. Once I got up there, I knew there was no way in hell I’d be able to successfully slide down with a toddler in tow; one of us (if not both!) would get severely injured, as the slide was far steeper looking down than it seemed while peering up at it. I had to have Chris come up the rocks to watch Kaia to ensure she wouldn’t do anything dangerous. I advised her several times to not move until Daddy came up. And I slid down (and shrieked the whole way given how steep it was; I later found out that I incidentally deterred and freaked out another woman who was about climb up to slide down!) and somehow ended up in one piece. I immediately stood up and was thankful I didn’t have any broken bones. Chris was able to climb up and retrieve Kaia successfully before she attempted anything crazy. Phew. We both were able to leave Sacsayhuaman unscathed and with all our bones in tact!

I later learned after I posted about visiting Sacsayhuaman on my Instagram Stories that my cousin actually broke his ankle sliding down this very rock 11 years ago on a trip here. He had done the day trip to Macchu Picchu the previous day, and he slid down this slide and thought he was successful. Unfortunately, when he slid down, his foot got awkwardly stuck in a rock, and when he tried to stand up, his ankle snapped, and that was when the breakage happened. He ended up having to be helicoptered to the nearest hospital to be bandaged up. Once I learned this (for the second time, since he did tell me this happened years ago), I said a silent prayer to myself that I hoped to leave Cusco without any broken bones.