Hi bald0ne,

I was just on the edge of thinking that it is getting too time consuming, too long, and too much energy to continue on writing. It is like writing a thesis of some sort for the report!
I am glad it brought you some joy and revived your memory. Thanks for the encouragement!

Day 14 Cusco-We planned to take it easy for the day, and had a free walking tour booked with Inkamilkyway at noon.

Cusco is a historic city in the Andes, once the capital of the Inca Empire, situated at around 11,000 feet above sea level. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and also serves as a gateway to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.

We booked two nights at the Amaru Colonial Hotel right at the historic center. We love this hotel. It is situated a bit on the uphill of the historic center. We needed to walk a stretch of uphill steps of the narrow street to reach the hotel. It was quite tiring especially with the high altitude effect, but the lovely Spanish colonial style, beautiful courtyard and views are such treasures to have. Breakfast provided by the hotel was good too. The breakfast room is decorated very beautifully and has a balcony view of the Cusco.


Our hotel room- simple, clean, roomy, and has a balcony with beautiful views

The reception desk is beautifully carved


View from room balcony

Hotel-Spanish Colonial style with corridors

Breakfast room

Beautiful arts in breakfast room


Beautiful courtyard

Sitting areas along the corridor

Outside our room, sitting area on the corridor with a beautiful view of history Cusco

After breakfast, we walked to the Plaza de Armas. It is the main square of historic Cusco, featuring colonial Churches and Inca walls. While we were sitting at the square, there were two interesting parades passing through the square. There was also some kind of demonstration going on the street near the government buildings.










Inca Emperor, Pachaquteq




We went back to the hotel for a short break before our free walking tour. After a light lunch, we walked to the historic center to meet our free walking tour guide. Our guide spoke good English and was friendly.

Our walking tour started at the San Francisco square with a garden in the center. We then walked to the National High School of Science- the oldest public high school in Cusco. We strolled under Saint Claire Arch, which was built to commemorate the Peru-Bolivian confederation in the 19th century. We continued to the San Pedro Market, the oldest and the only traditional market in Cusco.

We walked back to the Plaza de Armas. The oldest cathedral in Peru-Atrium of the Cathedral is situated in Plaza de Armas. We were shown the Street of the Sun, La Calle Del Sol, a well kept wide stone pathway from the Inca period. Our hotel is actually situated on the hill slope at the end of the stone walls pathway. We were really impressed by the well kept stone wall from the Inca period. It makes you wonder the extremely precision of the stones that are stacked together to make the Inca empire.


San Francisco square with a garden in the center

National High School of Science- the oldest public high school in Cusco

Saint Claire Arch


San Pedro Market Entrance


San Pedro Market



After the stone walls, the guide led us to the Palace of Inca Pachaquteq, the palace ruins of the most famous Inca Emperor, Pachaquteq, who changed the social order of the Andean societies in the 15th century. It was believed that Machu Picchu was built by him.

Pictures will follow later…….

KUSICANCHA INCA PALACE – THE BIRTHPLACE OF PACHACUTEC






After the palace, the guide brought us back to the free tour office. We walked through beautiful alleys, gorgeous courtyard with gardens, and beautiful Spanish Colonial buildings. It was indeed a very informative and enjoyable free walk.






We went back to our beautiful hotel to rest our feet and also got a good recommendation from the front desk for our dinner restaurant.

Cherthor, I am still enjoying your report. I don't know if we will visit Peru so it's wonderful reading your comments and looking at your gorgeous photos. Looking forward to reading about Machu Picchu.

Hi Karen,

Happy to hear that you are still with me. I always enjoyed your detailed reports on those places that you had visited. We had been to similar countries that you had visited, except for Scotland and your recent visits to Romania and Hungary. I love your beautiful photos and detailed descriptions of your journey.

When you are in Yellowstone NP, go to the visitor center and check for Giant Geyser eruption time, it is a lot more magnificent and magical than Old Faithful. The different stages to observe the eruption are really something to marvel at.

Cherthor, thank you for your compliments about my trip reports. I enjoy doing them, but they are a lot of work. I hope they help other people plan their trips. I have used other people's trip reports to plan my trips, in addition to using guidebooks. And I enjoy reading trip reports about places we may not be able to visit so I can travel with them vicariously, such as your Peru report. Cusco looks very interesting. South America is so different from Europe, where we have done most of our travels.

Thank you for the tip about Giant Geyser!

Cherthor, we too stayed the Amaru. I don't think it's in business any longer, but after 2 weeks of Pisco Sours, we found Norton Rats tavern for a few beers & a burger, overlooking the plaza de armas. Walking up the stairs, we were grossed out by what we thought was a rat skeleton. Ugh. Turns out it was just a leftover cuy carcass, the national 'delicacy'. Speaking of cuy, I can't recall which church it was in Lima, (I think it was one of those in your pics) buy there was a painting of the Last Supper with Jesus & his apostles. To appeal to the locals, they were depicted eating cuy. Lol.
Karenwoo, you had mentioned concern about the altitude at Machu Picchu. It's under 8,000 ft, so many visitors first acclimate in the sacred valley before visiting. If you were to go directly to Cusco from Lima, then to Machu Picchu, that might be cause for concern about altitude.

Day 15–Visit to Cusco’s 4 ruins, Pisac ruins and Manos De La Comunidad

We prebooked the trip from Cusco to Ollantaytambu with Taxidatum which included the self-tour of the Cusco’s 4 ruins, Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay), Pisac ruins, and Manos de La Comunidad. It was absolutely an amazing experience to see the Sacred Valley’s amazing treasures.

We were picked up punctually by the driver from Taxidatum. He didn’t speak English well, but we communicated through Google Translate, so there was no problem with the journey. We were dropped off at Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Manos De La Comunidad, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay in that order, the last ruin was Posac. In each site, we were given enough time to explore the site, then came back to the driver, and continued on to the next. We had enough time to see all the sites we visited.

“Sacsayhuaman was designed for ceremonial activities. Its gigantic structures at the site made us speechless with the work the Inca put together the big stones and stacked them to form the huge site for their ceremonial rituals”. It was fun to walk through the park, and the view of Cusco city from the park was very good.





Huge rows of stone walls

Going down to the walls

Huge stones stacked precisely together to form the wall

The city of Cusco is below the ruins

Steps to the Sungate


Enter the Sungate


Beautiful view of Cusco and surrounding area


The next ruin we visited was Qenqo.

“Qenqo labyrinth served a purely religious role. We saw the outer semicircular amphitheater with trapezoidal niches and a monolith that looks like a puma which measures about six feet high.” It was a small park, so we walked through the park easily in a short time.









After Qenqo ruin, the driver took us to Manos De La Comunidad which means“Hands of the Community” in Spanish. It is an animal sanctuary which receives animals from the Peruvian government that were being illegally trafficked. The center’s purpose is to care, and preserve wildlife and the education of the public regarding endangered animals.

We saw the endangered species of the Andean Condor, Vicuña, and Guanaco at Manos de la Comunidad. We also got to feed the Alpacas and Llamas, watched the demonstration of weaving and the colors making with the local plants.









Andean Condor

Women were weaving their crafts

Demonstrating the making of the color

Different products used to make colors for the yarn



Donations to the center are voluntary. We were also shown the huge selection of the weaving products in the store. They were very beautiful but the price tags were beautiful too.








We moved on to Pucapucara. This site was a military fort. We also covered this park in a short time.

“Pucapucara is located six miles away from the city of Cusco. Puca means: Red, and Pucara lookout fort”.







Tambomachay is thought to have been used as a Temple to the Water. There are some very impressive canals, aqueducts and cascades carved in stone, designed to channel water flowing from a nearby stream. We did a short hike to reach the water cascades.






The last ruin of the day was Pisc. This was the biggest among all the four we had visited earlier and it was situated high up on the mountain. The following description is taken from its website.

“Pisac ruins are the ones of the most spectacular views of the Inkan landscapes, also known as Inka Pisac. The ruins are situated atop the hills of the entrance to the valley. You’ll see beautiful agricultural terraces built by the Inkans and still in use today. Parque Arqueológico Pisac (Pisac Archaeological Park – Peruvians prefer to say this over “ruins”). Pisac may also be spelled Písac or Písaq.”

On the way to Pisc ruins, the driver asked if we wanted a guide for the visit and he told us that the place was too big to visit on our own for a short time. A guide would help us walk through the ruins faster and have a better understanding of the place. We agreed to have one and he called one for us. We were indeed happy with the decision we made in the end. Parque Arqueológico Pisac is a scenic and breathtaking place to visit.
























We had a fantastic time seeing all the ruins and the rescue center. We continued on the journey with our driver and he delivered us safely and happily to our hotel at Ollantaytambo.

Cherthor,

What a fun and interesting report! I've gone through up to the time you arrive at Cusco, and will pick it up again later. Glad to hear the over-heated bus incident is just a good story and not a major hassle. I'll look forward to continuing, as now it will bring back memories of our trip to Cusco decades ago.

Your photos are excellent and provide an immediate feeling of being on the ground with you. I must say you were wearing me out in Lima, you guys did a lot of walking! Your comment that photographs, "keep the time still and frozen, even though it might be erased" is proven by your report.

Colca Canyon looks in credible, and condors! I had never heard of a Viscacha before. Google says convergent evolution.

Thanks for putting in the effort to post.

Three things at this point:

First, while it may be, as you mentioned further above, time- and energy-consuming to produce a trip report like this one, it was definitely worth it. Something this good is never going to be easy.

Second, even now that you're in the well-known, much-visited Cusco area, it was good to see you call attention to something interesting like "Hands of the Community," which at least to the best of my knowledge, doesn't get much coverage.

And third, congratulations on doing better than most others with the name of the first Inca emperor. I've read that Maria Reiche, the famous scholar of the Nasca Lines, was always a little miffed by the more common but grammatically incorrect spelling "Pachacuti." Actually, "Pachacuteq" might have been slightly better, but the important thing here is getting that last syllable right!

Nelson
Glad to see you here.

That Viscacha was really cute, half rabbit and half squirrel, only in the Andean region.

Hope you will enjoy the rest of my journey.

Faedus,

Thanks for your compliment and support. I am glad it still lives up to your expectations.

Continuation from day 15…..We had booked Tanupa Lodge Hotel for two nights. Our room was big and clean, and the view from the corridor was very nice. We even saw honey hummingbirds busy in the butterfly bush. After checking in, we went out to the town center looking for dinner. We found a pizza restaurant that had a great atmosphere and decoration. We really enjoyed our pizza too.

Hotel corridors

View from corridor

Humming birds on butterfly bush


Hotel mural

Pizza restaurant

Beautiful inside restaurant

Artistic decoration

Love this

And this

Pizza was good too!

Day 15– Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park

It is the most important collection of ruins in the Cusco region. It was well known even before Machu Picchu was rediscovered. It is also the major stop on the way to Machu Picchu.

“Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park is a premier Inca site in Peru's Sacred Valley, functioning as both a massive fortress and former ceremonial center. It features impressive stone terraces, the unfinished Temple of the Sun, and well-preserved urban planning. It was also the site of a battle where Manco Inca defeated Spanish forces.”

We woke up early and had breakfast provided by the hotel. We wanted to be the first group up the terrace of the Archaeological Park before the bus tour groups came. We also had bought the 10-day Boleto Integral (tourist ticket) while we were in Cusco for entry.

We really enjoyed the morning strolls from our hotel to the park. When the gate opened, we were another first group to enter the park. Wow! It was so surreal and magnificent to see the size of the terrace up the mountain. It was like we had the whole park to ourselves.

Front entrance

We look so small compared to the surrounding

Those terraces!

Up the stairs we climbed
Key Features and Highlights

• The Fortress/Terraces: 17 huge, steep, superimposed terraces that served defensive and agricultural purposes.
• Temple of the Sun: A remarkable, unfinished structure built with large pink granite blocks, showcasing incredible engineering.
• Wall of 10 Niches
• Zona Militar
• Qoqas
• Inca Wanata
• Princess Bath(Ñusta Baths): An elegant, carved stone water fountain
• Temple of water
• Ceremonial Fountain

Look how smooth the stone was carved!

Up we went the climb!

Stepping steps

More steps to go!

Almost there

Gigantic stone wall stacked precisely one on top the other


Temple of the Sun
[img alt="Wall of 10 Niches
"]https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fodors.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_6679_original_0538a3d2e75e50e7e7e93b778355648a 3012fbd0.jpeg[/img]
Wall of 10 Niches



Path to Inca Wanada




Ollantaytambo









Temple os Water

Sorry it is Inka Watana and not Wanada!
We hiked up there when the gate was just opened by the guard. Magnificent view from up there!“Inka Watana in Ollantaytambo is an ancient, steep archaeological site located on the Pinkuylluna mountain, offering panoramic views of the main ruins and the "Living Inca City" below. Known for its agricultural terraces and as a likely ceremonial center, it is reached via a 15-20 minute hike up, providing a dramatic perspective of the Sacred Valley.”

The followings are the pictures that I had taken near the Temple of Water. Beautiful! We even saw a llama chasing the dog, they were playing randomly there! We even videotaped the scene.



What a view!















Llama chasing the dog!

After the Archeological Park, we walked to the town's Urubamba river, and back to the town center. We decided not to hike to the Pinkkuylluna Inca Archeological site as we were tired after the morning exploration.

We sat in the market square and had fun watching people setting up the market. There was a little girl very curiously staring at us, so I asked permission to take a picture of her.

Our lunch was very yummy and we had a balcony seat booking down to the busy square below. It was indeed a very fruitful day for us.










Very interesting way of carrying child by the mom


We went back to the hotel and rest. We had to wake up at 5am the next day to get ready for the train to Aguas Calientes.

At the hotel balcony, we could see the Pinkkuylluna Inca Archeological site.

Cherthor, are all of these ruins in the Sacred Valley? I really don't know much about Peru except for Machu Picchu, so all of this is so interesting.

What were the temperatures like? I notice a lot of people are wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts/jackets. Was this because it's cold, or for sun protection?

I especially enjoy the photos of the people wearing their colorful native costumes. So beautiful! And the little girl with the cute hat is adorable.

Karen,

I was about to put in the next installment of the visit to Machu Picchu. I am pretty happy I am almost towards the end of this report. I am quite tired in putting all my notes and pictures together to make this report. 🙂

Peru definitely is more than just Machu Picchu. There are so much to see and learn about the history and places.

You are right about all those places near Cusco, they are all under the Sacred Valley region. The temperature in September is very pleasant, around 70 in lower altitude, and high altitude around 60.
The sun there is very strong, most of the locals are very tan as the UV index is high there. I like their colorful costumes too, very pretty!

That little girl was so shy and friendly. I asked permission before I took that picture of her.

There is one thing that I want to emphasize: the high altitude sickness is not to be taken lightly. We saw people having hard time adjusting to the altitude.

We were fine when we were there, but did feel tired easily. My husband has heart issues, so we were very careful about the situation. It turned out that he handled better than I did.

Day 16– Perurail to Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu

We had booked our Perurail expedition tickets online for a 6:10am departure, and arrived at 7:40am. We had to arrive 30 minutes before the departure time.

We woke up early at 5am, checked out of our hotel and it was nice that our hotel had prepared our breakfast to go. It was less than a 10 minutes walk to the train station.

We also had a 3pm Circuit 2 Classic tickets to Machu Picchu and an 8am Circuit 1 Inka Bridge tickets the next day. We had booked a night at the Hs Tierra hotel in Aguas Calientes. All these tickets were all pre booked in advance on line a few months ago. I did encounter some difficulties in getting the tickets at the beginning, but it was resolved after I emailed the authorities.

The Perurail was departing on time to Aguas Calientes. The journey was pleasant and ran along the river. It was a pretty short journey compared to all the bus rides that we had done on this trip.


On the way to Aguas Calientes by Perusal

We arrived bright and early at Aguas Calientes. We walked through the tourist market, crossed the bridge, and we were at the town center. We located our hotel which was right in front of the tourist shuttle bus line to Machu Picchu.

Since we were too early for most things to open for business, we decided to go for our second breakfast at a cafe near to our hotel. The line for the shuttle bus to Machu Picchu was already forming. We went to the tourist bus shuttle center to buy our tickets for the same day and the day after. We just ventured around the town after that. We were also able to check in early before noon, so we were well rested before our visit to Machu Picchu at 3pm.


Scenery on the way



Through the market, and crossed the bridge

Aguas Calientes on first view

Line forming for the bus shuttle

We had to be in line one and half hours before our actual time for the bus. The bus would only take the entry time as they announced. The line was long but very well in order.

It took about half an hour to reach Machu Picchu. The journey could be intimidating if you are afraid of heights. There were people on my bus who closed their eyes, doing a prayer while riding the bus.


View from bus

View from bus

When we arrived at the entrance gate, they would only let you in if it was the entry time they announced. While we were waiting in line to get in, there were tour guides who would approach and ask if we needed a guide. We decided to have one who spoke good English and his fees were reasonable. In the end we were glad for our decision as he was friendly and gave us good insights of the visit.

We had the circuit 2 Classic route tickets for the visit and the guide led us through the crowd to the Entry Gate. We walked up some stairs and the grand scale of Machu Picchu came into view.



Wow, the surrounding mountains made it so much more attractive than other Inka ruins that we had visited. It is a lot greener than other ruins as well. It has a very strategic location, and all sides are protected by the surrounding mountains.

The terraces were smaller than Pisc’s and Ollantaytambo’s Archaeological Parks, but had a more densely populated landscape. When you stood on a higher plateau to view the landscape, it gave you the grandeur of the citadel.

The guide led us through the maze of the popular sites.

• Temple of the Sun: A semi-circular temple used for solstices
• Storage Houses where precious foods were kept among other things.
• Temple of the Three Windows: Located in the Sacred Plaza, offering views over the valley and featuring three trapezoidal windows.
• The Main Plaza: The central, grassy area of the city, perfect for taking in the overall layout of the ruins.
• Sacred Rock (Wank'a): An enigmatic stone that perfectly mirrors the shape of the mountain behind it.
• The House of the Guardian functioned as a kind of guardhouse. The different soldiers guarded both the IntiPunku entrance and the Caretaker’s Hut entrance.
• Central Plaza, where you will see llamas eating the grass. In Inca times the Plaza was used as the ceremonial sector of Machu Picchu, in front of the Plaza, you will see the residential sector. The Central Plaza of Machu Picchu counts as one of the most important sectors of the complex. That was where different sacred celebrations for the Inca religion were hosted.

Storage Houses


House of the Guardians

Temple of the Three Windows





Temple of the Sun


9’ o clock in the picture, where it is on the mount

Central Plaza and Main Plaza







Sacred Rock

Cherthor, thanks for persevering through to get your report written. I head it's tough and I gave up over time. (Tip of the hat to you too, KarenWoo!)

Really enjoying it as it brings back memories of our trip, which is always fun. Of the Inca sites you visited around Cusco, I think we only got to Sacsayhuaman and Tambomachay, so much of your report is new territory for me. We never made it to the Sacred Valley at all, getting only to Chinchero on market day, which was indeed a blast.

We thought (and still think) that Machu Picchu exceeded expectations, sitting as it is in such a grand location. Definitely a top travel highlight for us.

KarenWoo, as Cherthor says, altitude sickness is real and dangerous, but there are a number of things you can do to minimize the risk. The single biggest is to spend time acclimatizing, instead of rushing up to 11,000' like a lot of people do when short on time.

Thanks again Cherthor.