We will keep Cuzco kind of short — there’s not a ton to say. It’s not because it’s not worth seeing, it’s actually quite lovely with a picture perfect main square, and there is lots to do, but Cusco was more of an access point for Machu Picchu. We did a city tour and a Sacred Valley of the Incas, but it was mostly kind of a blur of activity — we spilled into Cuzco at 5 am, bought a tour package in a taxi, were mostly daydreaming in a bus listening to historical information for our two days there, the on the train to Machu Pichhu.

We did happen to show up on a major holiday: Corpus Cristi, celebrated by processions of knots of young men carrying extremely heavy “floats” depicting Jesus. Unfortunately, in a rookie mistake, we had already bought tours prior to realizing this, and had missed the main day of the celebration. Still, we caught a few processioners and marching bands. This festival also coincides with what is essentially a guinea pig (cuy) eating festival… So, we had the pleasure of being a little disturbed by rows and rows of tented vendors with skewered, darkly roasted rodents holding tiny tomatoes in their mouths, all laid out for display.

The tours were a lot like most tours… You wish you had just figured out a way to get to these places without getting dragged around, made to wait, pulled through one handicraft store after another. Still, we’d have felt remorse if we didn’t see the major sights of the Sacred Valley and its record of Incan culture, so it met our needs. The sites were varied and scattered, some more interesting and well held together than others, and the names blend together… except for Ollantaytambo (because we just could never get it right), and Sacsayhuaman (because we were certain the guide was saying “Sexy Woman”). Anyway, we’ll share this story as a stream of images, which is pretty much how we experienced it anyway. Enjoy!