The city of Cusco and cocoa leaves - Blog post

Cusco is a beautiful city, and if you plan to do some trekking in the area you are advised to spend up to four days in the city acclimatizing to the elevation (sits at 3400m); it's a great place to spend those days.
You can walk around and take in the sights, shop in the markets, sit in the city square, tour a cathedral or ruins, take a cooking class, dine and drink in the restaurants and get lost in the labyrinth of roads, twisting and turning; full of cafes, restaurants, shops, and hotels.
Once the capitol of the Inca empire, you can find remnants of history around every turn, its walls are neatly and perfectly placed and lasted the test of time, although many were damaged in an earth quake in the 1950's. I loved the terra cotta, orange roofs that stretched for miles.
Our hotel sat at the top of a winding narrow road and had an amazing view of the entire city. It included breakfast and each morning, while eating we would take in the full city view.

On the breakfast buffet, it was a traditional American-style (toast, jam, fruit, juice, coffee, eggs, ham) but also included, cocoa leaves to be placed in tea.

Coca leaves were sacred to the Incas, and since then have been used as a natural remedy for many ailments, including headache, sore throat and stomach upsets. Today, the coca leaf is a vital part of the Peruvian national identity.

Many Peruvians, especially the indigenous, chew coca leaves or drink coca tea in the same way that you might drink your morning coffee to get the day going. Much like caffeine, the effects of coca include increased energy levels (very useful if you’re schedule is jam-packed full of sightseeing, shopping or trekking!) and increased alertness.

Where coca leaves really come in handy, however, is for the treatment of altitude sickness, something that many visitors to Cusco will experience. The properties of the plant are somewhat of a ‘miracle medicine’, and are highly effective at treating the symptoms of altitude sickness.

I was curious about the leaves, and of course tried them every morning with my tea, and bought a bag on the street - and continued chewing them throughout my stay in Cusco and on my trek hoping they would make sure I wouldn't get sick. Unfortunately for me, I was one of the few that did end up getting sick.

More info on Cocoa found here: https://www.bestofperutravel.com/coca-leaf-tea-for-preventing-altitude-sickness-in-cusco-peru/