Saturday, February 28, 2009

February 2, 2009

Cusco

A rainy day in Cusco, spent recuperating from our trip and getting to know Cusco. We started the morning by going up to the roof of our apartment for the view. There was a nice room up there where I had planned to spend a lot of time working on photos and blogging, but the internet connection was less than very low!



We walked around in the rain, visiting the famous 12 sided-stone in the remains of the Inca wall in Cusco. I have no idea why this particular stone is famous but there were always tourists around photographing it. We ended up buying a few groceries from the fortified store across the street from our apartment and enjoying a supper of fruit, cheese, olives, bread, and wine in our kitchen.
















February 1, 2009

Pisac

Today we drove to Pisac for the Sunday market. Pisac is a small town in the Sacred Valley near Cusco. Ancient Inca terraces and ruins can be seen in the mountains above Pisac. The Sunday market takes place in the main square near the church.



We were able to spend most of the day sitting at an outdoor table, drinking beer and taking photos. My kind of photo safari!



It was a very colorful local market with lots of vegetables, coca leaves and potatoes for sale. At noon, there was a mass in the church which combined Catholic and Quechua beliefs with men and boys in traditional costumes blowing conch shells as a part of the service. For lunch, we joined the local people at stands around the market eating a delicious caldo de gallina(chicken stew)with spicy salsa for about $2 each.