Stephanie and Garth's June 21 - July 6, 1999, Peru Honeymoon

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Cusco, of Qosq'o, is the capital of a region (state/province/department) and the major tourism city of Peru and perhaps South American highlands. It is at 13 degrees south of the equator and 72 degrees west of Greenwich (Boston is also about 72 degrees west and Aruba is close to 13 degrees north and 72 degrees west). The city has about 260,000 people living in it and is located at 3400 meters (m) or 11,150 feet (ft) above sea level.
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The next 23 pictures portray the Inti Raymi ceremony on June 24. It is a tourist trap in the best sense -- an all day, colorful re-enactment of an Inca ceremony celebrating the winter solstice, demonstrating the power of the Inca (the king was "the" Inca) to "call back" the sun, and drawing together the four tribes of the Inca empire (north Peru/Equador, coastal Peru, south Peru/Chile, and Amazon). Although the original ceremony would have been at dawn in Cusco's principle Temple of the Sun, the re-enactment is done twice on June 24. First, at about 10 am (for sleepy tourists) on the remains of the Temple of the Sun in Cusco; then at about 1 pm on a constructed stage at Sacsayhuaman, a ruined temple on the hills overlooking the city. In the first 9 pictures following you see the morning procession of characters (foot soldiers, nuns/virgins, priests, high priests, and the Inca) and the priests' and Inca's incantations. Then the group changes gears and executes a procession up the hill to Sacsayhuaman. The middle three pictures show the procession coming out of the church Spain built ontop of the Inca temple of the Sun (that they had razed and desecrated). Note the Catholic priest in the second floor window, the "gold" chair in which the Inca is carried, and the snake carrying, bikini clad "Amazonian." The 11 pictures are at Sacsayhuaman. First the stands (Steph is in the bottom left). Then the big stones, authentic Quechuan villagers and the fake stage. Finally, costumes, dancers, ritual drink, ritual (faked) llama sacrifice, and a runneer (organization or ritual roll, you decide).
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013_Inti_Raymi_Cusco_8.jpg THE INCA
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Coricancha, the court of gold, is inside this building, now the Santo Domingo church. On this end of the building is the base wall of the former Temple of the Sun (thecurved, slanted wall on which the Inca stands).
015_IR_procession_n_priest.jpg Check out the priest in the window.
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017_IR_procession_n_snake.jpg Check out the snake.
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The biggest stones in Sacsayhuaman (not necessarily this one) is 360 tons and stands 8.5 meters high.
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While in Cusco, we stayed at the Hotel Libertador, San Agustin 400, Cusco, Peru, 5184 231961
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This mural was on the alley wall just outside the hotel.
033_Cusco_from_the_square.jpg Plaza de Armas.
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043_Inca_statue.jpg in Ollantaytamba square
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Note the terracing all the way up that ridged mountain.
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Second visit to Sacsayhuaman.
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Gonzalo Pizzaro, our Peruvian guide, was incredible. Hiking guide, paramedic, naturalist, political pundit, master arranger, community patriarch, art critic, humanist, etc. Gonzalo was especially good to us -- the honeymoon couple with the serious health considerations. The next 6 pictures show members of our group (willing to be photographed and lucky enough to not be in one of my bad pictures). Missing are Laree Perez, Dick Lewis, John Ringwald, and Peter and Christianne Young. We are still at Sacsayhuaman and will be for 3 pictures after the portraits.
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Off we go on a tour of other ruins. First, Qenqo (Qenco or Kenko), an Inca sanctuary carved in to the pre-existing stone and including a throne in a cave. Then Tambomachay, the Inca's bath, a natural spring at 3700 m above Cusco. Then we get to Pisac in the Urubamba valley. The following 4 pictures show the Inca cemetary (small holes in cliffs too steep to terrace into which a corpse in the fetal position is sealed, then the group on the Pisac trail from a tunnel, the ruins and then Steph and I in the Temple of the Moon at Pisac.
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Ollantaytambo is another ruins on the Urumbamba river on the way to Machu Picchu, and then, if you have alot of free time, on the way to the Amazon river. The first two pictures are in the town under the ruins showing how Quechuan natives dig up their dead after some years and bring their relatives' skulls home to live with them and the guinea pigs they raise for roasting. The follwoing 7 pictures show the terraces, a map of the ruins, three shots of the huge (50 tons each) rocks that were being erected for a temple, the Terrace of Ten Niches and the Bath of the Princesses.
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Time to start the hike. Veronica, also known as Wakay Willka, towers (5850 m, 19188 ft) over this portion of the Urumbamba valley and will stay with us throughout the hike. We start at Chilca, 2570 m, on the river at km 77 of the train from Cusco then hike about 10 km along the river to Llactapata, where we camp on the each of an agricultural Inca ruins before turning up the valley wall.
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084_camp_2.jpg Llulluchapampa, 4000 m
085_rest_stop_at_13770_ft.jpg Warmiwanusca, 4200 m
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088_Rosies_special_stop.jpg Runkuracay, 3800 m
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092_camp_3_from_14000_ft.jpg on a morning's climb
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094_inaccessible_ruins.jpg Sayacmarca, 3580 m, 11742 ft
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102_Salcantay_at_ceremony.jpg the BIG peak at 6271 m, 20575 ft
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104_camp_4.jpg on the 3rd pass at 3700 m
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108_ruins_at_pass_3.jpg Phuyupatamarca, 3640 m, 11939 ft
109_exp_terraces.jpg Intipata
110_bath_perpetual_youth.jpg Winay Wayna, 2650 m, 8692 ft
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113_Machu_Picchu.jpg 2400m, from Intipunku
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117_3_inca_windows.jpg Temple of Three Windows
118_ruins_symbiots.jpg bromeliad in red
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120_altar_of_the_sun.jpg the hitching post of the sun
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122_Inca_wall.jpg outside the priest's house
123_Incas_hung_doors.jpg entering the priest's house
124_solstice_rock.jpg Temple of the Sun
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126_Machu_Picchu_overview.jpg Huayna Picchu, the peak, 2743 m