CUSCO

The closest town to Machu Picchu is Cusco. It is an old colonial city with narrow cobblestone streets and nice plazas. I spent most of te time there walking through the streets. I liked the houses, churches and streets and so did many other tourists. Cusco is be far the most touristy city I've visited on this trip. There are tourists everywhere and everyone living in the city seems to be living from tourism.
I especially liked the area around Plaza San Blas with a lot of small restaurants, bars and cafes. And I enjoyed the food in Cusco – good, cheap food at a dutch and a french restaurant. Since there are many western tourists a lot of restaurants have vegetarian and international dishes. And sometimes it's nice to eat something without rice.