Festival in Cuzco Peru

Town square in Cuzco
Cup of coca tea
Marie and I visited Peru in 2004. Our main aim was to do the Inca trail (different post) and to go into the Amazon basin from Cuzco (yet another post). The altitude of Cuzco is pretty high, and the Inca trail is even a bit higher and all of the information on the Inca trail suggest that you spend at least three days in Cuzco to get used to the altitude - so this is what we did. Another way to overcome the altitude is to drink Coca tea. These are the leaves which are used to make cocaine. The tea is a vaso-dilator, so it opens up the blood vessels and you get a bit of blood to the head. Helps for the altitude. I was also as sick as a dog just before the start of the Inca trail (bronchitis). The guide made a big bowl of hot water with coca leaves in and I had to breath in the vapours. What would you know, the next day I was ready for the Inca trail! It is really a very beautiful city and is the old Inca capital. There is a lot of evidence of the Inca activity in the city which can be seen all over the place.

Marie with a cup of Coca tea

Festival day in Cuzco
As luck would have it, the time that we were in Cuzco coincided with a massive festival. This was beyond amazing. What we could figure out was that each of the schools in and around Cuzco took part in the parade. All of the people in the parade were is very colourful traditional dress. This was magnificent. Red is a very popular colour in Peru traditional dress and red was all over the place. Red also takes a very nice photo! So here we were, members of the Bloemfontein photographic club, in Cuzco at an amazing parade with millions of photo opportunities and only one digital camera! We had to work out a system of timing for the use of the camera and then a system to try and remember who's photos were who's. The latter we sorted out quite easily - just take a photo of the other person when the camera was swoped around. Timing was a totally different issue - the camera just about had to be prised out of cold dead hands! On both sides! Not long after this trip I invested in a second digital camera! We cannot do a trip with one camera ever again!
Lady in traditional dress
Festival - not sure who's photo - think it is Marie's
Definitely Marie's photos
Another of Marie's photos
Lama at the parade - My photo (I think)

Apart from the amazing festival, there is just so much to see in and around Cuzco. This is a must do on anyone's list to do in Peru. About 99% of the tourists is Cuzco are either doing to Machu Pichu or have just come back from Machu Pichu. This is by far one of the main reasons that people stop off in Cuzco. But there is so much more to see and do in Cuzco. There are a few beautiful old churches around the town square which are well a visit. There are also some great little eating places around the square. Like most of the old South American towns which were settled by the Spanish, the town square is the center point. Much of the activity in the town is focused there.
A tourist (Marie) and the local craft market. Must be my photo.

Another Inca site around Cuzco
Then, of course you can go a bit further afield and visit sites like Sacsayhuaman or Coricancha. The stone work at Sacsayhuaman is just amazing. Massive rocks which fit into each other. How on earth these were made remains anyone's guess. Well worth a visit. There is also the Coricancha. This is on the confluence of two rivers and were the Inca empire is believed to have started. This was the centre point of Inca culture. When the Spanish arrived, they converted this into a church and destroyed much of the old building, but there are still some magnificent Inca walls that remain. The way the stones fit into each other is amazing.

Sacsayhuaman (or sexy woman). Just look at the size of the stones 
Sacsayhuaman - an Inca site outside of Cuzco

Coricancha - Inca walls of old capital building.    
Amazing stone work

Local children
Well worth spending a few days in Cuzco on your way to the world famous site of Machu Pichu.

Local crafts are amazing.


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