This is a bus with guide that stops at several sites of interest in and just outside the city of Cuzco. The most interesting site was the one called Sacsayhuaman, which is pronounced not quite like "sexy woman". The old belief (from the early 20th century, and propagated in the above link) is that this was a fortress of the Incas. The current thinking is that, in fact, it was the royal palace of the great Inca king Pachacuti. The Incas laid the city of Cusco out in the shape of a puma (a spiritually significant creature in their mythology), and this structure is the head of the puma. (See the map on this page to get the idea.) It has a spectacular siting on a hill above most of the city, and is currently only about 15% excavated.
Tomorrow I start the Inca Trail. My next update will probably be Wednesday evening.
These are pictures of Sacsayhuaman, and views of the city from there. There was also a small llama/alpaca viewing area nearby...
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