Peru - In and Around Cuzco

For my last Peru blog post, I've collected some pictures from Cuzco and environs.  Many were taken during a day trip with a tour guide; others were taken while I was walking in the city or enjoying time with my sister-friend, Maga, and her family.

Views of Cuzco from Maga's balcony

Statue of Pachacuti (sometimes called Pachacutec)

Sapa Inca, or Inca Emperor, credited with designing

and building Cuzco, and probably Machupicchu

Cuzco fountain. I believe the spelling "Qosqo" is Quechua.

Iglesia de la Compagnia de Jesus

Cathedral of Santo Dominico, the main cathedral of Cuzco

Photography is not permitted inside.  The most impressive

part is the choir and organ.  The organ is almost never used.

View of Plaza de Armas.  I did not get to spend enough time there.

Sacsaywaman

Sacsaywaman was a fortress on a mountainside above Cuzco that is now in a ruined state (the Spanish used many of its stones for construction in the valley).  It's noted for Inca stonework involving incredibly large blocks and crazy angles.  Some of the ruins in the complex predate the Incas. There is still significant excavation going on there.

Main plaza of Sacsaywaman

More views of the main plaza.  Andeans apparently still use

the site for certain rituals and  traditional celebrations.

Here it's just being used for school outings and tourists.

 View of Cuzco from Saksaywaman

Plaza de Armas

 Crazy huge stones

Cristo Blanco beyond the ruins of Saksaywaman

Tambomachay and Q'inqu

There are many other Inca ruins in the area of Cuzco.  Some, in the Sacred Valley, I sadly wasn't able to visit.  I had to cancel that tour due to a rather nasty stomach ailment on my last full day in Cuzco.  Tambomachay and Q'inqu are further up the mountain from Sacsaywaman.  Tombomachay seems to have been built as a source of and possibly a shrine for water.  Q'inqu was probably used for mummification and possibly for sacrifices.

Ruins at Tambomachay 

View from Tambomachay, the highest place I visited in Peru

 Entrance to mummification chamber at Q'inqu

Ceremonial mummification platform 

Moon from Q'inqu

Montessori School

I visited the Montessori school in Cuzco that Maga's children attend.  Maga's sister founded and runs the school, and Maga teaches English part time (in addition to her primary occupation, which is as a professor of pharmacy at a local university).  The school is beautiful.  I never saw such happy children at school.

Views from the school 

One more picture, a little fuzzy, from my first night in Cuzco.  I'm definitely an American:

Peru - Detours

Welcome to my landing page for Peru photographs that don't fit into the narrative.

Signs

I'm trying to remember if I've ever seen a sign for Alcoholics

Anonymous in the US.  It seems to me that having a sign for it

kind of defeats the purpose of "Anonymous."

Movie poster. Not quite sure why I liked this, except I think

it was an odd mix of familiar and foreign.

From an animal rights fair that was setting up in a square in

Lima. While it seems like it would be just about impossible

to be vegan in Cuzco, veganism seems to have fans in Lima.

This was the first photo I took in Peru, in the airport. I'm not sure

if it's supposed to make you feel safe or worried.  Of course it

turns out these signs are everywhere in Peru.

Animals

Okay, this isn't really an animal, but it isn't really human, is it?

Plaza Mayor, Lima. Because what tourist city would be complete

without horse-and-buggy rides?

Dove at Qorikancha

Honestly, I have no idea what bird this is. But it's pretty.

Llama

Another llama, because you can never have too many llamas.

I'm 99% sure this is an Andean Condor.  I was in a tour group when

I saw it, but no one else seemed to notice it.  I took a picture anyway.

Later I did some digging around and decided it really does look like a condor.

This is the Montessori school's pet chicken. What, your school

didn't have a pet chicken?

Cuy! I'm kind of bummed I never saw wild guinea pigs. I never even saw

one served for dinner. These guinea pigs belonged to the school.

Hummingbird. I saw lots of hummingbirds, but man these suckers are hard to photograph.

My best hummingbird picture. Isn't he purty?

Beverages

Oh yes, my own personalized Coca-Cola, provided

by my wonderful hosts.

Making shopping easy: Rum and Coke

Cusquena and Peruvian wine. Both delicious and nutritious.

Coca tea (Mate de coca). I love this stuff. Apparently, since it's

made from the coca plant, it's illegal in the US. This sucks, because it's

delicious (like green tea but a tad sweeter), it's harmless (the potency of

caffeine, I'd guess), and it soothes the stomach and the nerves.