Sightseeing around Cusco

We have spent the last two days sightseeing around Cusco. Yesterday we hiked up the hill behind the town to look at some ruins. We were also looking for a place to ride horses (that was Robin´s idea). We didn´t have to look for the stable because a guy with horses found us.

We rode the horses for two hours and saw three sites. One had nice carvings in the stones and caverns to walk through. The others were lesser sites, but still nice to see. A guy from the stables (maybe stables gives the corral more credit that it had) walked with us. On the way back to town we saw the big garrison right outside of town. It is called Sacsayhuaman (it is pronounced like "sexy woman").

In the evening we did our obligatory shopping. We went to a large central market. It seems like everyone goes to the same warehouse and gets their stuff to sell. On the way home it started to rain. Luckily we got to the hotel before the downpour. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant near the hotel. We talked with a guy from Virginia there.

This morning we hired a taxi to take us to Pisac. It is about 40 minutes away in the Sacred Valley. There is another large complex of ruins above the city. We had thought about hiking up to them but were glad we took the taxi up the hill. A young man from the neighboring village acted as a guide for us. We ran into our guide from Machu Picchu there. It is a small world even in Peru.

We stopped at the market in Pisac on the way back to Cusco. It was pretty much like all the other markets. It did have a few different things, but most of the textiles were from that same warehouse everything comes from.

We stopped at another site on the way back. It is a site that was for worshipping water named Tambo Machay. It had a nice water fountain at the front. One of the pictures on this entry is from that site.

There should be more pictures on our picture site soon.

We have switched hotels for the next two nights. Tomorrow we will visit some museums in Cusco. Then it will be off to Lima.

**** Robin´s notes****

Hello everyone, It´s hard work being a tourist. My legs are finding new muscles with all of this uphill hiking. Ibuprofen is wonderful! Yes, we did go horseback riding and it was great. The horses were small with small delicate hooves. They may have had some Paso Fino blood in them.

We are getting along ok communicating in Spanish. At least I think we are!
On Sunday night we went to a local traditional dance performance. Joel filmed some of the dances. Also he volunteered ( with a little nudge) to join the dancers on the stage for the last dance. Unfortuneately I still have to learn how to use the camera to film a sequence, but I did take a picture.

Today was beautiful weatherwise. As we were walking among the ruins we saw a large bird soaring which our guide indentified as an eagle. We have also seen a lot of "LBB´s" (little brown birds). The rainy season is now finished and the dry season is about to begin. Subsequently everything is green and flowering. We were able to eat the fruit of a cactus which tasted like kiwi- yummy.

Tonight we may go see "Motorcycle Diaries" at a local cafe and relive our experience in Machu Picchu.

Hasta lumbago!