Peru Day One: Sacred Valley

What an amazing first day in Cusco, Peru. I flew from Lima to Cusco and arrived at about 8:30am. We were rushed into a tour bus and drove about an hour to the "Sacred Valley". I picture it as a place where Book of Mormon people must have lived. Many of the terraces are thousands of years old, and within the valley are the remains of buildings and temples. Archeologists date them back to the middle 1500's but a voice in my head tells me otherwise; these date back to the time of Christ or older. Our first place was a villiage in the Sacred Valley called Pisac. We visited the market and saw lots of people, especially women in traditional Andean clothes. Flat hats on Women indicate pure Inka blood. A hat with a raised crown indicates mixed blood.

This is the Sacred Valley from the pass leading into it. The river flows away into the distance and eventually join the Amazon.

This little girl and her pet llama greated us at the entrace of the market and collected coins from those who took her picture.

These are powered textile dyes producted from local plants, flowers and insects (the purple comes from dried beetles that live on cactus plants.

The more I look at this flute the more Iwish I would have asked how much it cost.

Inka weapoon reproductions in the market

An authentic Andean buffet. The Alpaca Stew kind of tasted like goat: not my favorite

The cafeinated drink in very popular, and tastes like cheap Halloween bubblegum, or bubblegum-flavored ice cream. I smelled it and decided not to try it.

This house, in an Inka village that has been continously occupied since before the Spaniards landed. The kid is trying to do homework while his mom is showing us her house. There are niches in the house that have skulls of the ancestors of the original builders to keep the bad spirits away.

Outside in the Inka village water aquaducts run past front doors bringing drinking-quality water.

At the remains of an Inka fortress. There are two qualities of stone work. Late stuff that was probably make in the 12th or 13th centuries. Then this obviously high quality stone work used without morter that are perfectly matched, but that have odd geometric angles to add stability.

Another example at the ruined fortress/temple of perfect stonework with no mortor use

From the top of the fortress looking down into the valley

Another view of the fortifications, paths and the valley.

This little girl has a pet monkey and the monkey begged coins for her

Cusco at night near our hotel.

At the end of the time my total number of picture count for the day was 278.