Cusco and the Sacred Valley

I arrived in Cusco to find it full of Gringos, and also full of markets, restaurants, travel agents and photo/internet shops... yes tourism is big here. Yet its actually quite a pleasant place, with a lovely central square, cathedral, some streets lined with incan stone work and heaps of good cafes (with book exchanges - yay!). Its also a perfect base for exploring the nearby ruins, and taking a trek to Machu Pichu.

The city was originally the Incan Capital, and its main temple was reported to have gold plated walls and gardens of Golden plants and animals. But the spanish arrived, and set about wiping out traces of the locals... cathedrals built over palaces, churches built over temples, stone walls converted to bases for colonial houses. Still theres no mistaking the superior stonework that has withstood earthquakes while colonial buildings have collapsed and had to be rebuilt.

I went on a days tour of the sacred valley to check out some of the incan ruins. There are some quite impressive complexes with stone terraces for growing crops, storehouses, houses and temples. Quite often they are perched on mountain sides, with the lower towns being converted into spanish towns. I found the terraces quite intriquing, and the temples rather bare... there is only stonework remaining and no intricate carved decorations (unlike central american ruins) or painting evident. Its thought they were well decorated with textiles but none remain of course. So its really admiring the stonework that fits together snuggly like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

I also took a local bus out to see some ruins within walking distance of Cusco, and spent a day leisurely walking and visiting the 5 or so ruins on the way back. Of these, one was for a water spring, another thought to be a guardhouse on the road, another a sacred cave in a hillside dedicated to the moon, a temple of unusual shaped rocks, and finally a fort with a very impressive zig zagging wall. The incans had the sense to bury/hide some of these to protect them from the spanish!