So, what else did you do in Peru?

[purplecat]

Our Inca Trail holiday actually started with three days spent in and around Cusco, the ancient Inca Capital. Our first day started with a walking tour of Cusco. Because of the various mix-ups with permits, this was with a guide called Arturo who should have been our guide for the whole trip, but wasn't.




Because Cusco was the centre of the empire, it was the crossroads between the major administrative region. This is still marked on the streets, today. This points along the path of the Inca road that led to Kuntisuyo.


First we went to a covered market.


This picture makes it look like it was full of child labourers, but actually it wasn't.


According to Arturo, dried animals (seen on top of the sacks here) were used in various local rituals as offerings. In particular they were buried in the grounds of houses to bring good luck.


We then got a minibus up one of the surrounding hills to view an Inca ruin (post later) and walked back down again into Cusco.


Many communities had the town name carved into the hills above the town. Cusco opted for Viva El Peru and what Arturo described as the coat of arms.








This was a craft market.




Lots of houses had two bulls on the roof - a symbol of good luck.


The parades started on our second day in Cusco (1st June) and were still going strong when we left causing various kinds of traffic chaos among other things. This was apparently the Cusco Festival, though it obviously took Arturo by surprise a little.


This was covering what looked (on Pokemon Go) to be a nice fountain. Arturo had a garbled story about how the city had ordered a statue and been sent one of a Native America Indian and so had returned it and eventually been sent an Inca, but we couldn't work out if that was a permanent thing, or just there for the festival.