and some fantastic museums with both indigenous and colonial treasures
We also gained an amusing insight into early cross-cultural misunderstandings! This statue of the "Mother of Peru" was commissioned in Spain in 1921 and the instructions to the Peruvian craftsmen specified that she should have a crown of flames - "llama" in Spanish. Nobody gave a thought to the fact that llama has two meanings in Spanish. Needless to say the Peruvian craftsmen selected the meaning that had more everyday significance for them...so the Mother of Peru stands proudly with a perfectly wrought llama perched on her head!
From Lima we flew to Cuzco, once the foremost city of the Inca empire. Its streets still hold plenty of examples of the incredible, mortar free stonework for which the Inca civilisation is famous.
but these are often capped by Spanish colonial or even modern buildings.
many of which are equally magnificent
Cuzco lies at the head of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. These fertile, sheltered lands provided food to Cuzco and to the holy city of Machu Picchu which lies at the opposite end of the valley. One of the main Inca settlements was at Pisac, and we spent a wonderful day climbing up through the ancient agricultural terraces above the modern village
to the Inca citadel which perches on a mountain spur 2000 feet above it.
It's a spectacular location with steep drops on either side
and masses of stone buildings, only missing their roofs which were made of thatch.
One reason that the Inca buildings are still standing, in spite of earthquakes, is that the Inca builders understood that a sloping frame is stronger than a vertical shape, so all Inca buildings slope gently inwards
so do the window frames
Even the walls of the terraces which were first cultivated 800 years ago are still intact, in spite of falling into disuse in this century
Modern day Pisac village, in the valley, hosts a market every Sunday and local people walk for miles to sell their handicrafts and produce.
Modern day is, of course, a relative term - the village's bread is still baked in a traditional clay oven. This particular oven also roasts the village joints (yes, including the odd guinea pig) and produces fancy cakes for the tourist hotels. It is 12 feet deep! Must be a bit of a problem when you forget what you put at the back!
From Pisac we continued on down the valley to Urubamba, from where we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, the village which sits in the deep valley below the famous ruined city of Machu Picchu. There is no road to Aguas Calientes and the train carries you deeper and deeper between the towering mountains
and finally drops you in a gaudily coloured town, surrounded by towering peaks covered in dense cloud forest.
We decided that we would like to look at Machu Picchu from one of the neighbouring peaks before visiting the site, so we set off to find the path to the summit of Putukusi, an 8,500 foot neighbour. We did wonder if it looked a bit on the steep side...
but nothing ventured, nothing gained...
and the effort was definitely worthwhile
After a couple of fairly gruelling hours we found ourselves alone at the top with a wonderful view of Machu Picchu on the other side of the valley!
We reckoned that the climb deserved a "we were there" type photo - or were we just trying to delay the moment when we had to climb back down?!
The next morning we caught the first bus up the spectacularly winding road to Machu Picchu. (There is no road into Aguas Calientes, but there IS a road from Aguas Caliente to Machu Picchu! Of course the buses that drive on it had to be brought in by train...!)
With the hundred or so other early birds we watched spellbound as the sun and clouds rose slowly over the ruined city
It was a perfect start to a wonderful day spent exploring this amazing place.
Several llamas roam freely around the city
and one of them had a five day old baby.
It was timid, but insatiably curious, as this man found when he spent longer than usual focusing his camera!
Machu Picchu is a full of wonders. Natural rocks which perfectly imitate their immediate horizon
Beautiful buildings that look as if the occupants left a few decades, not centuries, ago
But for us the biggest wonder of all was the sheer impossibility of its location! Perched high on a mountain top
cradled by the river which flows around it on 3 sides
the genius and imagination of the people who conceived and built it left us gasping.
Machu Picchu is truly unique and deserves every superlative heaped on it, plus a few more!!
