Showing posts with label peru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peru. Show all posts
Cusco, Peru
Peru Part Three: Cusco and Beyond
After our Machu Picchu adventure, we were all pretty beat so we took the 3.5 hour train directly back to Cusco, arriving at our hotel around 9pm. During the drive from the station, there were so many stars in the sky and we could see lightning flashing in the valleys all around the mountains which lent a very surreal atmosphere. Unfortunately, I was too tired and hungry to appreciate it very much.
Breakfast at our hotel the next morning--so good!
Exploring Cusco on foot--the one-time Incan capitol is a very charming city. We were pretty sore from the previous day (and also I was sunburnt and itchy from 17 mosquito bites) so walking around the hilly terrain in the thick smog while getting easily-winded due to the high altitude was killer.
The Plaza de Armas--it was the center of Incan Cusco and still is the center of Cusco today.
Breakfast at our hotel the next morning--so good!
Exploring Cusco on foot--the one-time Incan capitol is a very charming city. We were pretty sore from the previous day (and also I was sunburnt and itchy from 17 mosquito bites) so walking around the hilly terrain in the thick smog while getting easily-winded due to the high altitude was killer.
The Plaza de Armas--it was the center of Incan Cusco and still is the center of Cusco today.
Machu Picchu, Peru
Peru Part Two: Exploring Machu Picchu
We spent the night in Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu, so we could be the first visitors to Machu Picchu the next morning (before everyone else arrived from Cusco via train). Aguas Calientes is an entirely walkable town with the Urumbamba River running right through it. Some people don't think of it as much more than a tourist trap town, but I thought it did have a certain run-down charm.
Unfortunately we took a little longer than planned eating breakfast so we weren't the VERY first ones at Machu Picchu like I wanted. Still, it was an entirely different experience being there in the quiet of early morning before the crowds piled in and the sun began beating down. I highly recommend trying to get there as early as possible!
Ollantaytambo, Peru
Peru Part One: Journey to Old Peak
The Urumbamba River and the ruins of Ollantaytambo in the distance
Ollantaytambo is a very picturesque little town. It is also the site of some Incan ruins (which were never fully completed before the town succumbed to Spanish conquest). The stronghold of Ollantaytambo is known for being the only place in Peru to have ever resisted Spanish attack (unfortunately, victory was short-lived as the Spanish came back with four times the force). Today, the town is the best surviving example of Incan town planning.
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