Peru day 2

Cuzco is a World Heritage Site too

Today, I landed in Cuzco and went to the hotel. After a long rest, I ambled through town. Cuzco was once a great cultural center and capital of the Inca empire. The city is said to have originally be built in the shape of a Puma. For breakfast I was not hungry so I grabbed some coffee and headed off on my excursion to Machu Picchu. The sprawling mountain-top city provided a great vista to look down from. Not surprisingly, there were lots of llamas there. There were also a plethora of natives playing pan flutes and dancing. There were less armed guards around the site despite the problem of shining path militants. For awhile I sat and watched the flute players dance around . I also watched the llamas. Then, I ate the lunch I had packed. I ate a Peruvian-Japanese dish of tiraditos, thin fish with sauces. I also had causa, filled potato puree rolls. After lunch, I drove back to Cuzco in time to go see some of the ancient buildings. The most impressive detail of the buildings was how the boulders used to build the buildings fit together and stuck without cement or mortar. These buildings were likely used to perform religious ceremonies. The Koricancha was a temple with pure gold painted on the walls which the Spaniards plundered and took to Spain. Many of the Incas were killed just prior to Pizarro’s arrival due to a civil war. The estimated population of Cuzco at his arrival is roughly 200,000. Plus, a lot of the population died off after smallpox was introduced. Finally I ate dinner. For dinner I had anticuchos, marinated and grilled beef heart on sticks. The meal was actually quite delicious. For dessert I had sliced fruit. Finally, I drove to the airport to catch my flight to Trinidad and Tobago.