Sights and Sounds of Cusco

after stopping off for lunch, the best meal we have had so far ... ok i should backtrack there. Peruvian food is really a mix of Spanish, Mediterranean and local methods. lot of casserole type things on offer, meats, rices that type of thing. good stuff, the hard part is decoding the spanish titles for each meal. then again thats kinda half the fun. ie anything with Pollo in it is a chicken based dish, same as Lomo is beef.

alright onto the arvo tour.
we began at one of the local inner city historical sights, were there once sat a group of Inca temples, each built in the traditional stone block way, and each for a specific purpose. one for the sun, stars and moon. this is a theme followed in all Inca locations. much like we would find a church in every city, they had temples for their gods.

quick notes on the stone constructions. because this region of the world is prone to earthquakes the Inca built their temples and buildings in such a way that nothing would crumble and fall over. the system works on a trapezoid (shape of the windows in the temple) formation where each wall leans in on another to form a brace, rather than the western / spanish buildings which went straight and high, prone to total collapse in an earthquake. the Inca construction stonework found here and around in every site is the same. each block of stone has no cement to glue it together, its simply interlocking. amazing stuff, no gaps what so ever between blocks, you've just gotta think how did they do that!

so from the sites in the city we visited the city centre cathedrals (Cusco = microcosm of Lima) and then moved onto the outskirts of the city to find other Inca temples and stone constructions. all taste tests for Machu Picchu.

Cusco itself is a town slowly changing towards a 99% tourist economy. everything, everywhere is designed to suck out a tourist dollar. scary as you think sure you helping these people with your cash, but are you also preventing them from continuing their traditional lives. one thing is clear, theres no way you could do any of these things here on your own. you have to be on a tour.

quickly on altitude. it sucks. lol
thinner air, less oxygen, makes for a tiring experience. by 4 in the arvo you feel like you've run a marathon. we havent even done Machu Picchu yet :) its all good, one thing is also aparent, the sun is COOKING! sunburn is a real problem here, its as feirce as a Perth summer sun, yet its only 21 C. im toasted already.