The land of the Incas

For the past two weeks we've been in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, former home-base of the mighty Inca Empire, including a four-day trek in the Andes called the Lares Trail that concluded with a tour of Machu Picchu. We were also joined by my sister Joan!

Instead of rehashing everything we've learned over the past couple weeks about the Incas, if interested, we highly recommend checking out this recent National Geographic article on the Inca Empire along with some cool maps (is there such as thing as an uncool map?) showing the reach of the Incas at the peak of their power and the Sacred Valley, and an interesting story on the "discovery" of Machu Picchu in 1911.

Here are some photos from the past two weeks.  Enjoy!

-----
A view of the main square in Cuzco, Plaza de Armas
















All of the street names in Cuszo are in Quechua, not Spanish

A big parade in downtown Cuzco - we think it was celebrating the agricultural and industrial production from each region around Cuzco. Each region dressed up in a traditional costume and danced down the street.

This percussionist was so amazing and talented, we just had to take a video. Never seen such an enthusiastic guy!



Joking aside, here's a video of the festivities.

Potatoes and corn, the staples of the Andean diet

Looking quite clean and energetic at the start of our 4-day Lares Trek

Chilling during a lunch break...





















Visiting the home of some of the locals along our trek.





















Lots of amazing views along the way...

...and lots of llamas too!

(OK I swear, that's all of the llama photos...for now!)

The highest peak of the trip...15,000 feet!

After the trek we wandered the streets of Ollantaytambo, an ancient Inca town in the Sacred Valley where our guide was from. The red bag tied to the stick indicates that Chicha is available at that home or store.

 

And finally, the view of Machu Picchu at 6am. Well worth the trekking and the early hours!

Our super cool group from the trek

A circle rainbow!  We all proceeded to cry and freak out at this point...

More photos HERE!