Cusco

The Cathedral

We all flew to Cusco the next morning. Yet another lovely group. Unfortunately Cusco was even higher than Quito at 19,000ft above sea level. But the hotel had coca tea ready for us when we arrived so we were soon fit as fiddles and ready to explore the city.

We went to the Qorikancha first which was originally an Inka sun temple but the majority of if was rebuilt by the Conquistadores in a roman style. However, some Inka walls still exist inside the building. Much of the building was destroyed by an earthquake and had to ce re-constructed, all that is, except for the Inka walls which are built with a slight incline which makes them earthquake resistant!!
Cusco is a really lovely city with loads of plaza's and water features and it feels very safe for a Peruvian city.

The Cathedral is amazing,if not a little gaudy. It is decorated with Gold, Silver reds, pinks and mirrors, which is all a little tacky.

Next it was off to Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexy Woman)which is a huge archaelogical Inka field. The Spanish described the area as the ruins of a fortress when infact it was a Geological and Astronomical site. The buildings would originally have stood at 6 levels in height but only 3 levels remain. Also, a lot of the area has been demolished by the Government as they built a road through it. In total the Government demolished 92% of the site!!