Sunday, November 13th...a great week in Cusco

See the two flags - left is Peru and right is
Cusco - looks just like the gay flag.

This was a week of tourist activities as we purchased the 10 day tourist ticket which enables us to visit many of the sights both in and outside of Cusco. We are trying to see the sights that we did not see during our last visit. Try clicking on the above photo and see a short video of folkloric dancing - they use color and costumes so well.

Waterfall in San Blas neighborhood - love the geometric shapes

Sunday hike outside of town to local ruins -
Templo de la Luna

Seems like young girls are always asking
to take our pictures...and we took theirs

 Most of these photos are self explanatory. Incan walls are everywhere, usually the foundation for the churches and other structures in town. It is mind boggling to imagine how they moved some of these stones and how they managed to fit them together so well as to withstand so many natural disasters.

Incan walls which are usually made on an angle. Most
have withstood earthquakes. Notice the smaller stones
at the bottom which is the secret as to why they have remained
after so many years....no mortar, just stone against stone.

Weaving...usually sheep or llama

We have been to museums, monuments, textile factory, churches along with our classes of yoga and Spanish. We are making good use of our time during these 10 days and after tomorrow will get back to a less touristy lifestyle. There is so much to see here and we are really lucky to have a whole month. We have made a few friends as we usually do and that is also nice....Al, our yoga teacher and Jean Jacque who owns our Spanish school.

Pachacutec monument -
Led the Incas in city planning, building,
administration. Walked up to the top for
a great view of town.

Love the fabric here.

Peruianas are beautiful people

Cusco at night

Salt mines at Maras

Underground saltwater - different families own
each square and work the salt mines as a
cooperative - has been going on for hundreds of years

Yesterday's visit to Maras and Moray was so interesting from a historical perspective and for me for a design and great photo opportunity. As you know by now...I love geometric shapes and here was a chance in both sites to take many photos. Again, photos do not do justice to the immensity of both sites.

Moray - deep ampitheatre like terracing - the first three were pre-Incan.
Each layer has its own micro-climate according to how deep the bowl is and
 therefore was used for crop experimentation.

Look at the steps and the people to get a feeling of how large
these circles are. So impressive.

Ricardo climbing out of the circles

The steps coming out at each level
with over one foot between in each step.

We have had a chance to talk to some of you on the phone this week which is always great - keeps us connected which we both love. Having the technology that we have makes life so much easier for communication. We do miss you and love you.