Trip to Peru 2

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Cuzco is a most fascinating city including many old Spanish colonial-style buildings and Inca ruins. There is so much to see within and around the city - more than we could manage in the 3-4 days we spent here.

The first outing we made was to Saqsaywaman, a most impressive Inka development just outside Cuzco. What an atmosphere! Apparently, this was primarily a religious site of many temples and much remains of the buildings - huge stones so beautifully placed together without any kind of cement to keep them together. Within Cuzco itself one sees around many a corner evidence of this impressive masonry. The stones themselves were regarded by the Inkas to be sacred and to contain energy and apparently they used such stones to transmit energy. Many in our party were able to feel this.

In our time in Cuzco we visited a number of Inka religious sites, including a particularly impressive one on the way to Machu Picchu called Olantaytambo. This is a huge site, bigger than at Machu Picchu but not as dramatic. Of course we also visited the famous Machu Picchu - what an amazing place it is! We had only about 2-3 hours there as it takes quite a while to reach from Cuzco. It is also overun by many tourists unlike many of the other sites we visited. I would very much like to revisit it early in the morning before the crowds arrive and spend the day absorbing its beauty.

The leaders of our party, in describing the functions and qualities of the various sites, very much focussed our attention on the energy, the atmosphere and spirituality of the locations. It was quite a different way to visit a potential touist attraction and one which I would like to take back to similar sites in Europe such as Avebury.

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Photos

Machu Picchu
A view from the temple of the sun

To prove I was there!
A view from the temple of the sun