I know, I'm falling way behind...it's already March and we've almost been back a whole month!
The night we arrived in Cusco we walked around a bit to get familiar with the area - really cute town with narrow streets and cool looking buildings.
Our first stop was a tour of Qorikancha, an Inca built temple to worship the sun from the early 1400's. The Spanish had destroyed it in the 16th century to build Santo Domingo Convent and Church but because of an earthquake in 1950, Qorikancha was rediscovered.
We then headed back to the Plaza de Armas for a tour of the Cusco Cathedral.
We then went to check out Saqsaywaman (pronounced to sound kind of like "sexsay woman"). Some believe this was a fortress and other believe it was used for a religious site. Either way, the ruins are pretty impressive. Some of the stones weigh up to 200 tons!
Another place we checked out was Qenqo Temple. This is where the Incas would perform rituals leading up to the mummification of their leaders.
We ended the day with a demonstration of how to tell the difference to between real / baby alpaca and "maybe" alpaca. If I had a nickel ever time someone said this to us while in Peru...we could have paid for one of the baby alpaca sweaters that Paul got! Don't worry, baby alpaca just means that it's the first shave of a baby alpaca's fleece - there is no killing of baby alpacas. They are protected in Peru.
The next day we headed towards the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo.
The night we arrived in Cusco we walked around a bit to get familiar with the area - really cute town with narrow streets and cool looking buildings.
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| These are the same roads that cars go down too |
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| In the morning, I found another door I liked, yay! |
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| Yes, same street as the night before...narrow and used for pedestrians and cars! |
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| Hotel was conveniently located |
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| Cool streets |
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| Plaza de Armas |
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| Looking at the Cusco Cathedral through the rain stained window |
Our first stop was a tour of Qorikancha, an Inca built temple to worship the sun from the early 1400's. The Spanish had destroyed it in the 16th century to build Santo Domingo Convent and Church but because of an earthquake in 1950, Qorikancha was rediscovered.
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| Symmetric |
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| Real life Lego pieces |
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| Santo Domingo Covenant and Church |
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| Santo Domingo Covenant courtyard |
We then headed back to the Plaza de Armas for a tour of the Cusco Cathedral.
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| Cusco Cathedral to the left and Templo de la Compañía de Jesús to the right |
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| Cusco Cathedral and Plaza de Armas |
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| We got a tour of the church |
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| No photos were allowed inside so I took a good amount of the outside |
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| We learned how to tell the difference between local and Spanish artists |
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| Entrance |
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| Templo de la Compañía de Jesús |
We then went to check out Saqsaywaman (pronounced to sound kind of like "sexsay woman"). Some believe this was a fortress and other believe it was used for a religious site. Either way, the ruins are pretty impressive. Some of the stones weigh up to 200 tons!
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| Of course it started to rain |
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| Big stones |
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| Pretty surroundings |
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| Very interesting place to visit |
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| It was nice to get some blue skies |
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| A nice couple took a photo for us but didn't take it of the doorway, which was the focal point |
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| The stones don't look that big from here |
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| It is estimated that up to 20,000 people helped build this complex |
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| It reminded me a little of Stonehenge - somewhere I have always been wanting to visit! |
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| The large stone on the right is the largest? |
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| Moving these stones must have been some job! |
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| You could see Cristo Blanco from here! |
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| Not quite as big as the one in Rio |
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| Built in 1945 |
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| Yes, this is a real alpaca |
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| One more shot of Cristo Blanco |
Another place we checked out was Qenqo Temple. This is where the Incas would perform rituals leading up to the mummification of their leaders.
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| We got to walk through a cave to see where they place the bodies |
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| Here we go |
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| This stone was ice cold - a good way to preserve the bodies before mummification |
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| The view from around the corner |
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| Cusco |
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| Our last stop of the day was Tambomachay, another archeological site of the Inca Empire |
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| These terraced waterfalls were made by the Incas |
We ended the day with a demonstration of how to tell the difference to between real / baby alpaca and "maybe" alpaca. If I had a nickel ever time someone said this to us while in Peru...we could have paid for one of the baby alpaca sweaters that Paul got! Don't worry, baby alpaca just means that it's the first shave of a baby alpaca's fleece - there is no killing of baby alpacas. They are protected in Peru.
The next day we headed towards the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo.
