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Inca Trail & the Amazon Rainforest

Day 9 - Cuzco

20th August 2015

Cuzco flag

Acclimatisation, Statue & Saqsayhuaman

 


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With Cuzco sitting at 3350m today was our acclimatisation day before heading to the Trail tomorrow. It was also our laziest start, with a lie-in that helped to dispel the minor headaches Miche & I has acquired when we had arrived the day before.

We headed to an Alpaca weaving centre in the morning for a lesson in differentiating between baby alpaca (first sheering), regular alpaca and acrylic. The usual reticence to buy concerned it may be a tourist trap, only to eventually buy something anyway because we actually like it. Still slightly uncomfortable with the partial haggling culture that exists.

View from outside our hotel room - if you stand on tiptoes...

View from room




Variations of these figures featured on many rooftops - these ones were on our hotel - they represent religion and power. The bulls are made in Pukara high on the Altiplano...

Roof



More shots of the Pachacutec statue in the main square...

Plaza de Armas 1



 

Plaza de Armas 2


 

Plaza de Armas 3



Cathedral...

Plaza de Armas 4



Inca ladies in traditional dress & a baby alpaca outside the Cathedral - selling craft wares and posing for photos for sols...

Plaza de Armas 5



Bread in the shape of a Caiman...

Caiman bread





For the afternoon, we'd booked a sightseeing trip to 4 Inca sites around Cuzco.

Saqsayhuaman...

Saqsaywaman 1


Saqsaywaman 2




Impressive and heavy stonework...

Saqsaywaman 3





Notches give clues as to how the stones were worked and moved...


Saqsaywaman 4



Saqsaywaman 5



More fancy joints...

Saqsaywaman 6



Looking to the more agricultural areas of the site...

Saqsaywaman 6



Saqsaywaman 7







Inca gate - some of the stones have been moved to make it less steep for modern feet...

Saqsaywaman 8



Another gate...

Saqsaywaman 8



Looking to the snowcapped mountains that surround the city...

Cuzco in the valley below...


Cuzco panorama

Plaza de Armas from Saqsayhuaman...

Cuzco
At Saqsayhuaman...

Near Cuzco

Next to Tambomachay and our first introduction to Inca Fountains...

Fountains 1


Fountains 2

We didn't actually enter the third site, Puka Pukara, instead we parked down the road a bit and looked from afar - after Saqsayhuaman, it was likely to seem small and some on the minibus had been looking at sites all day and were looking jaded...

Puka pukara

The 4th and final site was Q'enqo, a ritual site...

Q'enqo 1

Entrance to the cave...

Q'enqo 2

The shape is supposed to resemble a Llama eating, it does take more than a little imagination...

Q'enqo 3

Back to Plaza de Armas in the evening...
 


Next - Day 10 - Inca Trail - day 1


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Day 1 - London to Amsterdam Day 2 - Amsterdam to Lima Day 3 - Lima - City & Fountains
Day 4 - Lima - Changing of the guard Day 5 - Lima to the Rainforest Day 6 - Rainforest - Macaws & Caiman
Day 7 - Rainforest - Canoe & walk Day 8 - Rainforest to Cuzco Day 9 - Cuzco
Day 10 - Inca Trail - day 1 Day 11 - Inca Trail - day 2 Day 12 - Inca Trail - day 3
Day 13 - Inca Trail - day 4 Day 14 - Machu Picchu Day 15 - Cuzco to Puno
Day 16 - Lake Titicaca Homestay Day 17 - Return to Lima Day 18 - Lima to Home