In the first post I said you could go first class or not. First class means having guides and knowledgeable people to lead visitors. Well worth the few extra dollars as compared to the economy route that I saw. The mental comfort level eliminated a lot of goblins in my brain.
In a country where my native language is not the local native language, those guides showed their skills. With a few words to someone acting as a gatekeeper, we walked past the other tourists and into places many people could not go.
Our trip from the Machu Picchu pueblo to Cusco was aboard the Hiram Bingham, the evening dinner train.
The beige building is the Hotel Monasterio, our home in Cusco. Yes, it was a former monastery. No, lightning did not strike the building as I entered.
Elevation 11,000 feet.
The front courtyard. Peru uses 220V, so bring a converter. Outlets look like US 110V.
The back courtyard.
Lobby bar.
This entrance led from the hotel directly into the church next door.
Decked out for an event.
Wedding day for this lady!
Someone actually paying attention to a stop light.
The Incan empire was a thriving culture. Then the Spanish showed up and made a mess of everything. The lower stones are from the time of the empire. Civilizations have always built on top of what was already there.
Elevation 12,000 feet. The site is Sacsayhuaman, Temple of the Sun. Pronunciation sounds like "Sexy Woman".
No mortar, no concrete, no glue.
With still functioning water troughs. This is the winter dry season, so nothing flowing.
Overlooking the city.
Nearby Q'enko. Someone has a private moment.
On this altar were coca leaves, just to the left. A number of the local people still practice the old ways.
And I'll close the Peru series with this. Once again, Spanish architecture on top of Inca stone.
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