Day 50 – Tuesday, March 17, 2026

With my flight departing for Lima at 5 pm, I only had half a day in Cusco — and I gave myself some time off. Sure, I could have squeezed in one more trip outside the city, but overall, regarding the past seven weeks, I was nearing the point of saturation. Mind you, on this trip I had met real globe‑trotters, e.g. an Irish couple who had been traveling for a year and could hardly count the countries they had been to. Not sure how they do it...

After a good breakfast, I went for a walk in the crisp sunshine — it was a beautiful fall day after the thunderstorm of the previous night. I was delighted at how thoroughly my bike bags had been cleaned at the laundry. No need to look like a homeless guy anymore!

Lovely Cusco

Justice Palace (or something similar)

I wanted to see more of the city, and, if possible, rent a bike. I visited a wonderful church, where restorers were busy working on a medieval piece of art. A bit forbidden, I took a photo of the altar.

Main square in Cusco

Restorers

Forbidden altar

In downtown, there was a must‑see that I had hitherto missed — a huge stone with not less than twelve angles, carved craftfully by the Incas.

Twelve angles

Renting the bike proved harder than expected. I was sent from Pontius to Pilate, when finally, just some 5 minutes from my hotel, I got a well‑functioning (yes!) bike for a reasonable amount.

I still had a couple of hours, so decided to take it to the hills surrounding Cusco. What a delightful ride it was! I told myself that if I were to return to Peru, I would certainly pick a Lima‑to‑Cusco route on two wheels.

My route was basically a re‑run of the city tour of the previous day — only that I could now stop to marvel at the colorful wildflowers, enjoy the views of the town and the surroundings, listen to the birds sing. The Incas had for sure picked a perfect spot for their capital!

Although it was a Tuesday, it felt really festive. One of my stops was the statue of White Jesus overlooking the city.

Wild flowers

Festive mood

Ready for the ride

White Christ

I descended, returned the bike, got a bite to eat and headed for the airport.

More beauty

Recruits

My plan was to take the bus for 1 Sol (€0.25), but it was so full I did not fit. Then I checked Uber — and for €2.50 picked that service.

The tiny airport was cramped, still, check‑in was surprisingly efficient. I was happy to have been assigned a window seat; Cusco lies in a narrow valley, I was looking forward to the take‑off from there. Ha! The one thing I did not know is that I was assigned a windowless row, the last one, darn.

The view I was looking forward to...

In Lima, I took the very crowded airport bus to town. It started, rode for a while, then made a U‑turn; fifteen minutes into the ride we were about a kilometer away from where we originally started. It was quite a struggle for the driver fighting his way through incredibly heavy traffic. To put the dot on the “i”, we had to wait some twenty additional minutes for a delegation to pass.

I rented an apartment in downtown for €25 (the one I had tried to stay at a couple of days earlier) — I have stayed in better places, let us say so — but it was pretty central. It was fine for my last two nights.