Every Sunday in Cusco there is a parade of all the local dignitries and services, though this time it was bigger than usual.The crowds gathered early in anticipation.The paraders included boys from the local military academy/school.All the costumes were immaculate.All the sidestreets were packed with marchers preparing and waiting their turn.Police and military made up a big portion of the parade.A typical Cusco side-street.Many of the buildings are built Inca stonework as their base. The Inca stones don’t use cement or mortar, just gravity and interlocking shapes.The going rate for a photo of the national costume wearers was a Sol, which at that time was about 20p.Louise, Karen and Karon show off their knitted ponchos.Cusco main Square at night. We were off to find a restaurant which served the local dish of roast guinea-pig.Stuffed with herbs and ‘well-done’, it was tasty. Karon couldn’t manage a whole one.The waiter presented them for a photo op then separated the meat – in a similar way that Chinese duck is pulled off the bone.After dinner we went to sample the night life, including a few drinks in the Cross Keys pub – no longer there.Next day we went on a tour of Cusco. Starting at the temple of the sun….now mostley under a Spanish built Cathedral. The holes around the opening here, originally had precious stones set into them and the whole temple exterior was clad in gold.The precise stonework of the Incas.Saqsayhuaman. Cusco was originally laid out as a representation of a Puma. This temple area outside and overlooking the town formed the head. – Later, when we flew from Cusco back to Lima I looked down on it but have to admit I could not make out the puma’s head.Saqsayhuaman. The place was big. One of the stones is said to be over 300 tonnes.Big shaped stone at Saqsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru.Our group. We all got on well, except for one PITA.Cusco, Peru. The airstrip is in the distance.Cusco. The railway line to Machu Picchu zigzags up the slope and over the hills at the back. The train ascends the first stretch of the climb then stops, points are changed and the train reverses up the next stretch. It continues in the same way until the line clears the tops of the hills.The ceremonial area of Saqsayhuaman.Saqsayhuaman. The zigzags are supposed to be the teeth of the puma.Wedding photos with a difference.Saqsayhuman. The classic tapering doorway of the Incas.Then we moved on to another temple ‘Qenqo’. A limestone outcrop that has been heavily carved and reshaped. Here a cave has been reshaped to represent the lama (tilt your head to the left)…which it is said were sacrificed here.Steps and pathways carved out of solid rock.Looking back toward Saqsayhuaman.Back in Cusco…some of the Inca foundations I mentioned earlier.A real Inca Chief (not) guarding the entrance to the Inca Wars museum. A rather large collection of bashed in skulls, the offending weapons and one or two unfortunate mummies.
