We spent two days before the Inca Trail and one day after touring the city of Cusco. During a tour of the city we walked around two plazas, and spent some time at a small museum exhibiting the works of Hilario Mendivil. A famous landmark of the city is the twelve angle stone of an ancient Inca temple. The Peurvian beer, Cusquena, has this stone engraved on the bottles.
We also toured six archeological sites near Cusco; Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Tambomach'ay, Pukapukara, Q'Engo and Saqsayhuaman. All sites varied in size and the degree in which they remain intact.
Saqsayhuaman provided a great deal of entertainment due to its name. When pronounced Saqsayhuaman sounds a lot like Sexy Woman. Many photos were taken of sexy poses. Here's my attempt:
We stopped by a coca shop to try various products made from the plant; tea, brownies, cookies and chocolates. Everything was delicious and I bought a few treats for myself. Cynthia gave us a brief history on the plant and informed us, despite the rumors and the uninformed, the plant in its natural form is not a drug. The only thing I became addicted to during my tour of Peru was the country itself.
I also stopped by a large handicraft market. I didn't buy much, just two t-shirts. A lot of the products being sold I had seen throughout my travels. I toured Santo Domingo Church, built by the Spanish and on top of an Inca Temple. A small museum located near the church housed a minimal amount of artifacts but did display skulls containing trepination marks and deformities from skull binding. Before I returned to the hotel to met up for dinner I stopped by the Popular Art Museum. Another small museum that contained a few pieces from Mendivil and other art works made from such things as silverware and guinea pig bones.
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