Aquas Caliente is the host town for Machu Picchu and it likes to show off its importance.  Before leaving, Joanne (a municipal politician in her own right) witnessed a goosestepping parade featuring the local tin pot politicians, the police, and school children.

On To CUSCO (elevation 11,200 ft.)

Cusco, a beautiful and richly historic city, is much deserving of its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The Killke people occupied the region from 900 to 1200, prior to the arrival of the Inca in the 13th century. In the 16th-century it fell under Spanish rule. This is a view of the city from the Sacsayhuamán ruins. The city is said to be designed in the shape of a puma, with the Sacsayhuamán site at its head.

The Sacsayhuamán ruins make a dramatic backdrop for a Peruvian wedding photo.

The stoneworkers used no mortar; boulders were fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. It is a marvel.  

Tipon is a 500-acre site near Cusco that is built around a spring and is a fully functional gravity fed irrigation system. It is believed to have been used as a test site for agricultural products. 

“Mountain Goat Mitch” demonstrates how the farmers moved from terrace level to terrace level.

  Nevado Veronica is a very impressive, pyramid shaped mountain. It  is the highest peak in the Cordillera Urubamba. Veronica is a name the Spanish gave the peak, but its real name is “Weqewillka” in Qechua, which means “sacred tears”.

This is the site of Coricancha, the Inca’s Temple of the Sun which lies under a church constructed above it. It was the most sacred place of the entire Inca empire. After taking Cusco, the Spanish demolished most of Coricancha, melting down its gold plating and sculptures to be sent back to Spain. They then built a cathedral on the site, though they maintained its original stone foundations.  Centuries later, an earthquake completely destroyed the Spanish-made cathedral (which was rebuilt) but left the foundations of the Coricancha intact.

In the evening young people dance and practice marshal arts on the Coricancha site.

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Beneath the park is the Underground Museum.

 This young woman was watching her sister’s children in the shade of the city’s cathedral. Her sister was selling merchandise on the street. Women are encouraged to be financially independent and supplement the family income by setting up stalls and selling things like sandwiches or craft items.

We visited a bakery where the same techniques have been used for centuries.

We picked up a handmade retablo depicting a bakery scene. Joanne will keep this over her oven for inspiration when she bakes her breads.

The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, founded by indigenous weavers in Cinchero, supports weavers from the Cusco region to recover traditional Cusqenan textiles. Here too we see the effort to encourage women to be financially independent.