City Tour of Cusco and Nearby Inca Ruins

When we left Machu Picchu, we took the bus down the mountain. On the bus we met a young man from the Philippines by way of Canada. Jef fit right in with our family and joined us for lunch and the afternoon in Aquas Calientes. On FB, he shared these two photos with me. I thought this one of Machu Picchu an especially nice photo of the sun coming up and hitting the ruins. This photo was taken later in the day at a coffee shop when we needed a little coffee to perk us up after a long day, and we still had to catch a train, a bus, etc. to get back to Cusco. 

Once back in Cusco and a day of resting up and a bit of shopping, we booked a city tour. We met our guide in front of the Cathedral de San Francisco in the Plaza de Armas and started our tour inside the church. The church was pretty amazing with the combination of Inca and Spanish cultures. I especially liked the huge painting of the Last Supper with cuy as part of the meal.Then we walked a few blocks through the town to Qurikancha Temple of the Sun. You can see the Spanish influence with the arches. Then look through the arches to see the Inca Temple of the Sun. From there we took a van to Sacsayhuaman.  We did not get to spend nearly enough time here. These ruins were pretty fascinating, but it was getting to be late afternoon and we still had other places to see. Here is Shay and Lindz in front of the huge Inca rocks. More giant rocks!
 Next the van took us to a place called Tambomachay.  We had to walk up a long hill to get to these Inca ruins and it was getting cooler and darker. Still, pretty fascinating!
 Last, we went to Q’enko. Now this was a place I would love to have seen in better light. Our guide took us into a cave used by the Incas to do some sort of rituals - like operating on people's brains. It was so dark inside the cave that we were only able to see by using cell phone light. Here is a link to read up on the City Tour and the places we saw.

Next I will try to share some pics from Lima.