Peru Day 2



Day 2 in Peru - the Sacred Valley

We got up and caught the bus to Pisac. First we went round craft market where ladies were weaving. We then caught taxi to Pisac to visit some of the Inca ruins. The site is a collection of different sets of ruins which you walk down through, eventually arriving back in Pisac ,
The first site is called Qanchisracay and was thought to be  the Inca fortress. Then you walk up to another called Hanan Pisac. This was very busy as a number of tourist buses had arrived.
We then walked down to the lower one, Intihuatana the sun temple which contains a sacred sculpted rock, the hitching point of the sun. The tourists had not got this far, which is strange as this is the most important part of the site. A stream ran through the site and there was a small basin for bathing before performing the rites.

Mairi at Hanan Pusac

We then walked down to Pisac past a small Inca site. The side of the mountain was terraced and a waterfall came down the side of the mountain

As we got into Pisac we entered an really large craft market where the stalls were covered with white plastic. A really big wind got up and all the jumpers/hats/scarves got blown on to the path. We helped to pick them up.
We had dinner in the market and it was pretty bad though cheap and caught the bus back to Cusco.






We went to the hostel and put warm clothes on. We then visited San Francisco church, then Santa Clara which was closed but looking through the door was very strange with mirrors and icons which the Spanish installed to draw in curious Indians.. Lastly we walked right up to the top of the city to San Christobel where the sun was going down over the city, This church is built on the site of an Incan palace of Manco Capac the first Inca leader and sun god. It was built by Inca Paullu to demonstrate his new Christian faith.
We then walked back into the town to see the traditional Inca dancing at the National Inca Theatre.
What a packed day.




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