Moray and Chinchero

The concentric circles at Moray were different from anything we´d seen so far.  The current theory is that they were used as an agricultural laboratory, to experimentwith what crops (wheat, quinoa, other grains, potatoes, etc.) would grow best at different temperatures and under different conditions.  It has been proved that the temperature varies at different levels; [...]

Tambomachay, Pukapukara, Qenqo and Saqsaywamán

The site Tambomachay is only about 5 miles outside Cuzco.  A local bus heading toward Pisaq dropped us off right in front.  The area was used as a resting place, and is most known for its fountains and baths. The Inca Bath is created by two aqueducts that provide clear water year round, making the most of [...]

Machu Picchu

The train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (aka Machu Picchu Pueblo) was like entering the jungle.  Everything got more and more lush,green and wet.  There was less agriculture, and more wild.  Aguas Calientes itself (named for thermal springs on the edge of town) was another kind of jungle, the tourist kind.  Obviously this is [...]

Sacred Valley

 
To travel to Pisac from Cusco is about an hour by local bus, 2.40 soles about 70 cents US.  We sat next to two women who were having a conversation in Quechua and trading goods.  One had bread and the other bananas and they seem to have made an agreeable and tasty trade.  Native Quechua [...]

Santuario de Pachacamac

After a quick geocache find at a pretty lookout near our hostal, and with a new SIM card inserted in my cell phone, we head south from Lima to Pachacamac, a ceremonial and religious center which first came into use around 650 AD by the Wari culture.  Its cemetery was sacrosanct, and the buildings and [...]