Cusco is this sweet little town plonked in the middle of the Andes. It’s really picturesque with small cobbled streets, town squares, churches and even some Inca ruins. You also see Peruvian women dressed in traditional garb holding lambs and running away from the police because they don’t pay taxes. Cusco really is a postcard kinda town.

Pretty Cusco

But when I think back on Cusco I’m going to think of two things. Israeli’s and Loki.

Israeli’s

The last thing I expected in Cusco was an Israeli invasion. I think the Israeli’s in Cusco outnumber actual Peruvians. It felt like every Israeli from the ages of 21 to 24 was in town. And they were all staying in the same hostel as us. It’s quite odd to see so many people from the same nationality together in a random city on the opposite end of the world. All the people we spoke to had finished their stint in the army and were now on a complete jol spree through South America. And the Israeli’s dig to jol. Some dude told me that “Sagi” meant drunk in Hebrew. I totally believed it and called everyone Sagi face. I think they were having me on because I googled it and this is what turns up:

This is the real Sagi

Loki

This was our first (and hopefully last) party hostel. Party hostels are awesome, you meet tons of people, there is a jol every night and everyone is in a great mood. Until doo-doo time. Sleeping in a party hostel is possibly the worst thing you could ever do to yourself. I am a granny, I like my sleep. I do not want to hear you predrinking in the room at 3am, I don’t want to hear how your diarrhea is going to make you faint and I definitely do not want to hear you having sex. On our last night in Loki Jenny and I waged a full on war with girls in the dorm. There was glaring, f-bombing and near hair pulling. Needless to say, Jenny and I obviously won. So in the end I have mixed feelings when it comes to Loki. I loved the atmosphere of the place but I hated sleeping there. From now onwards we are choosing hostels based on how loserville they sound.

Make a noise and die.

In the end I really did enjoy my time in Cusco. It was a thousand times more awesome than Lima. It’s one of those places that I wouldn’t mind going back to although I wouldn’t stay in Loki again.