The Sacred Valley

 Today's journey will take me to the Sacred Valley of the Inca.  I fully expected much more...since the Inca Civilization is so deeply rooted in the area in and around Cusco - former capital of the Inca.

The day began with a trip to the Pisaq Market....these are typical of the markets that you find in Cusco as well as other towns in Peru.  Just before we get to Pisac....here is one of the typical road side markets.....First the ever present young girl looking for a photo op....

The market stalls...

Next up the town of Pisaq..... and the Pisaq markets....a one-way bridge into town...

Great taxi service here too....

my first stop was the bakery....yeah...but not like what you think....it is a wood oven bakery....baking empanates, potatoes, bananas, and guinea pig...(correct guinea pig!)

Here is the oven..

The guinea pigs fresh from the oven to you.....ummmm

Here are the empanatas.....fresh from the oven to me!!  They were delicious......and I also had the bananas...they were good as well.

Here are the empanates cooking in the oven...

The baker,,,,hard at work....look at the size of that oven!

And,,,,,here we go....guinea pig and potatoes ready for the oven....if you look closely you can see the guinea pig still has his whiskers....

Here is the market....

Moving on into the Sacred Valley... These pictures will tell it better than words....

Aaah....so so gorgeous.......

I spent the night at the Sonesta Posada del Inca Yucay Hotel...it is close by the railway station where I will go tomorrow to catch the train to Muchu Picchu....the grounds of the hotel were beautiful...

....and from my room....this awesome view....

I can hardly wait for tomorrow....Machu Picchu....now is the time for the photo of the day....

Now....this does not look like much of a picture (and it is not)....but it has great significance to the people in Peru....this red flag indicates a tavern....clearly marked so you can find it anytime....anywhere!!

Cusco - an entry point to the Inca culture

Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca, consists of some 13 provinces of some 1 million people.  The city of Cusco itself has some 400,000 sitting at 11,000 feet above sea level....whew!!  Yes, it hits you about the time you step off the plane from the short flight from Lima.  It takes a little adjustment that is for sure....just about the time you head to Machu Picchu...

I arrived at my hotel with only 30 minutes to find somewhere to get a fast lunch.  The hotel suggested the pizza place at the corner.....a quaint little place with a brick oven.....the pizza was ordered and served within 10 minutes...and was it ever good...ummm

Ready to head out on the tour of Cusco and its Cathedral as well as the Sacsayhuaman fortress and the Tambomachay....

The Cathedral is really a complex of three churches.....but, sorry to say...no photographs inside....and it was oh so beautiful.  The main alter in the Cathedral had at least 20 vases of fresh flowers...the art work was remarkable as were the many icons.....

On the streets it seems like everywhere you turn there are Peruvian women and children carrying baby Alpaca to solicit you to take a picture...for money of course....here are but a couple of examples...(no...I did not pay for these photos!!!)

The Koricancha Complex in Cusco is the location of the main Inca Temple....while no pictures were allowed in the Chapel of Santa Domingo they were allowed in other parts of the complex....here are the walls of the temple....

Check out the the lines in these walls....we are talking construction with crude tools....the portals housed religious icons....

The gardens around the temple were destroyed by the Spaniards.  But this courtyard adjacent to the temple was almost identical to a courtyard that I visited in New Zealand....

I almost forgot....I wanted to show how ingenious the Inca were in construction.  Check out the tongue and grove on these stones.....

And, in looking thru this window....the masonary skills exhibited in this photo....

Off to Saqsaywaman fortress....

It is thought that this fortress was a major protective area for the Inca.  It easily could be seen as a temple but it was determined to be fort or military type fortress.  There are some 33 archaeological sites at this location...here are some examples...

Some of these stones weigh between 90 and 120 tons!!

This statue of Jesus, patterned after the one in Brazil overlooks the city of Cusco from Saqsaywaman.

Peruvians thrive on tourism....therefore there are many markets and just individual stands selling goods...but since I am going to the markets tomorrow I will hold off on those pictures.  I just want to show these beautiful faces of Peru....

That's it for today.....tomorrow the Sacred Valley and then to Macchu Picchu....

Photo of the day?  How about this?  A guy "pedalling" wood on the street in Cusco.