SEPTEMBER 24 - 26 - AROUND CUZCO

A couple of pictures, taken from the bus, as we travel down from Machu Picchu.  The majesty of the landscape is mind boggling, even for a BC kid.










No pictures from the rest of the trip back to Cuzco as it was dark.  Long slow train trip to Poroy.  Then we were picked up by a car and driven smartly to our hotel.  We have nothing but praise for the tour company we booked our Machu Picchu trip with.





Next morning.  We get up to have one last breakfast with the riders as they prepare for a 160 km day on a drizzly morning.  Here's a group of them outside the hotel just starting out.








The courtyard of our hotel, now that all the tents and other stuff has been removed.   A very pleasant place to stay.

A procession in the Plaza de Armas.  There seems to be one or more every day.









Now this is interesting.  There were weavers set up in the Plaza.  Apparently, they were from various different areas and were here for a week.  I'm guessing they are part of a cooperative, as there was a tent behind selling their creations.

Laura and I bought a table runner.  Here is the lady who wove it.  We have her name and village, but the info is packed away with the table runner in our luggage.  We exchanged big hugs and smiles.  It was a very special moment.

I remembered later - her name is Celestina.





We did a little more touring around Cuzco.  The last archaeological site we visited was Saqsayhuaman, atop the hillside above Cuzco.  To get there, hop in a taxi and say "Sexy Woman" to the driver and 10 Soles later you are at the entrance.  The buildings on the site have been mainly destroyed, only a few foundations left.  

The main feature is the size of the blocks on the walls.  Some were dragged here on rollers from as far as 30 km away.  The largest block is over 100 tons.  The walls on one side of the plaza








The other side of the plaza

A shot of the lower wall.  One theory behind the notches in the bottom of the blocks  is that they were notches for tree trunks which supported the block above the wall while the workers fit the blocks together.









Look at the fit if these blocks

The foundations












Some natural slides that the school kids were having fun on.

Carved blocks - not sure of the purpose.











We walked down from the site back to the Plaza de Armas.  Here's a view looking back up.  The site is just to the left of the statue at the right of the picture.

That's it for photos and for our trip.  We have to pack up the last of our stuff, trundle it all to the airport and hope they take the bicycles.

One final item.  For dinner last night I had a Peruvian delicacy - Guinea pig.  I won't tell you his name.