day 15 - Urubamba

Yesterday evening when I updated my blog I heard music and fire-crackers on the main-square just outside ... It was the local school ... each class performed a local peruvian dance ... and I can say ... they were sweating ... nice way to end a beautifull day ...

...today ...

A view of the mainstreet ...

Took a collectivo and then a taxi to see Moray ...

The inca's used this site to experiment with crops ... it consists of several terasses in circles one upon the other ... this create a bowl-shape . Each terrass has a different temperature and the sun does not shine identical on each side ... so different micro-climats ...

There are not one but tree of those bowls ..

They used stones in the wall to go up and down the terasses...

there is also less wind in the lower levels ...

and of course irregation is very important ...

here you can clearly see the steps ...

Left afterwards to go to another very special site today ... walking ... surrounded by high tops

with clouds this time ... hope they stay that side of the sacred valley ...

I lost my hat in a collectivo in Puno ... and I burn a bit my forehead in the sun in Cusco ... so I wear my ...

Don't forget it is spring here so lot of ...

...and beautifull plants ... a lot of the agave family ...

I wanted to go directly to that special place, but the road took me to the village of Maras ... and then further down ... I was on the right track until I took left too early ...

managed to go further via little tracks downhill and uphill ...

so I took the direction I gues the right ... but I was blocked ...

So I had to climb again to a certain level to have it easier ... and of course I came to a view where nobody comes ... and what a view ... the salineras ...

... going down and passes some salted spring ...

... nearly fell in it ....

and to the salt-terasses used since the inca-time ...

... there are over more then 4000 of those bassins ...

and of course the famous irrigations ...

The brown collor is because it rained this night ... if it is dry everything is white ...

(Laura je t'ai acheté quelque chose içi)

... and then down the valley ... and a last view from below ...

cross the suspended and moving bridge ...

over the Rio Urubamba ... which flows into the Amazone-river ...

at the other side of the bridge a nice restaurant-hostel ...where I ate a marvelous meal for just 36 sol (8 euro)

pisco-sour, frech made sort of nacho's with guacamole and grilled porc with delicious mashed vedgetabels

then a little walk to the big road and a collectivo back to Urubamba (2 sol) ... up to the hotel, shower, resting a little bit, updating my blog and ... time for dinner already ... pizza perhaps tonight ...

day 14 - Cusco - Urubamba

Have visited 4 museums in Cusco :
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo
Some nice work ... a few works made completely of bones ... a cathedral

Don Quichote

and a few paintings ...

passed the sunny streets to the next  museum ...

Museo Inka with some interesting objects ...

even some metal bracelets ...

then to Museo de Arte Precolombino with a magnificant display ... a few hundred objects from different cultures ...

...i have got other pictures, but can not display them all ... each object in this museum is an art-work ...

And on the lower level 3 rooms with displays of shell, silver and gold ...

These three are from shells

some silver nose-plugs ...

and silver ear-plugs

and a golden crown ...

then to Museo del Sitio del Qoricancha which was not realy interesting ...

Qoricancha is one of the most important Inca-buiding in Cusco ... and a church was build on it ...

and then went for the bus to Urubamba (3NS  is less then 1 Euro for 80 km) ...

Arrived in Urubamba all save and well found a cheap hostel (40 ns = 10euro)
I changed a bit my program ... else I wouldn't have enough time to visit all I wanted ...

day 13 - Cusco part 1

As the weather is nice ... I went to visit some ruins in the region of Cusco ...
The city of Cusco is build upon the ruins of the Inca-city ...

The main square ...

With it's cathedral

... nice arcades ... still with some inca-basements ...

... and wooden balcony ...

I took a collectivo to the temple who is the most highest : Tambomachay... this site was used for ritual bathing ...

... on the way to the main road ...

... and don't forert it is early spring over here ...

... from here i went on foot ... to the next one Pukapukara (the red fort) just on the other side of the road ...

which is a kind of lodging but I thimk there where also some rituals ...

some pics

then went for a big walk ... a few kilometers further down the road I saw a ruin not indicated on my maps ...

I think there are just excavated ...

and above in the rocks ...

I didn't wanted to go back to the road and make a detour, so I went directly in the direction I wanted to go ... and had a view on the main temple of Saqsayhuaman ( to pronounce sexywoman) ...

... but it took me over two hours to get there ... I visited first another little bathing-construction nearby

and then down to the main temple ... the weather was becomming a little bit clouded ...

and then  Saqsayhuaman ... amphitheater

and a few hundred meters further ... a view on the famous three walls ...

down the stairs ...

for a few looks on those walls ... representing teeths of a puma

up to the first level ...

look at the stonework ...

even the stones in the corners are rounded ...

up to the highest level ...

to see the temple still beeing excavated ...

and a view on Cusco ...

down to the lower level ...

and to the next temple ... Q'enqo