Around Cusco

This week we have been on the Inca Trail and we leave for Puerto Maldonado and the Amazon tomorrow (Sunday) - so it will probably be Wednesday when we next get a chance to blog.

Sunday - Sacred Valley Tour
On Sunday we went on a Sacred Valley tour around Cusco. This was a full day tour visitng markets, and Incan Ruins. First up was the famous Pisac market - I bought a necklace there, but on the whole we have concluded that the textiles and weaving are not as fine here in Peru as what they were in Ecuador.

Then it was on to visit the Pisac Ruins. The Incans were pretty intelligent people, and had a very organised society, and were master architexts, builders and astronomers. For instance, all buildings were built with trapezoidal shaped walls, doors and windows to help them withstand earthquakes (one of the reasons so many of the Incan ruins have survived 500 years in this earthquake prone part of the world). The sun and stars were also very important and almost everything they built is related to them somehow.

Then it was off to a restaurant in Urubamba for lunch before going to Ollaytatambo to see more riuns. Here there is a Temple of Sun built with 6 huge interlocked stones - each weighing between 30-45 tonnes. Also in the mountain opposite there are two "faces" - one is said to be the father of the Incas and the sun rises from his face on the Winter Solstice, and the other is said to be a messenger from the Incan God.

Our last stop was Chinchero, for a touristy demonstration of traditional weaving and a visit to yet another set of ruins. These ruins showed how the Spanish tried to destroy the Incan Culture after the Conquest. Here they destroyed an Incan temple and then built a Catholic Church on the foundations - so you can still see the Incan stonework at the bottom of the church.

As per ususal with tours in South America, we were inevitably running late, and we actually saw the last ruins in the dark! But that is all part of the fun here.