Gateway to Machu Picchu
This town seems to be made of 3 things, restaurants(pizza!), craft stands(much less persistent than in Cuzco thankfully and more merchandise), and kids. I've never seen so many kids for such a small town. There is a school right in the downtown plaza, and the kids just hang out all day and night while their parents are working. It makes it for a real fun place to stay.
If you want to do 2 or 3 of the hikes spend 2 or 3 nights here, otherwise one night is enough. 4 hours from Cuzco by (Backpacker) train.
There are more hikes around here, but I couldn't find a good map saying where they are. You can walk the last leg of the Inka trail.



Church
relaxing......
Me, 1/5 of the way up the ladder
The town from a hill not far away