We visited an alpaca store in the morning as our first stop. We learned the differences between alpaca and vicuña. From there we went to saqsayhuaman mountain, the highest point in cusco. The remains of a temple/fortress are there, again showing the amazing ingenuity of the incas. There is also a white Jesus statue that was given to the people of Peru by Christian Palestinians that fled the Ottoman Empire. Theory is the gift was given when they returned to P...

The day started with a visit to a mountain to discover how the people live. We saw women who were paid to make cell phone calls, selling drinks, potatoes and eggs to name a few. We then visited a baker and watched him make bread and rolls. While we were there a young woman came to pick up her guinea pig for lunch with her godmother. The baker then pulled a fully roasted pig out of the oven for us to see. Our guide then gave us a list of items to find and buy at t...

Today we did a morning orientation walk of cusco. We observed inca walls throughout the city that remain after two earthquakes. The Adobe structures that were built on top of the walls were destroyed in the earthquakes but the walls remain. We then toured the qoricancha sun temple, cusco'a most important ceremonial structure which once housed 700 sheets of gold. When the Spanish discovered the temple they stole all the gold. After the sun temple we walked to the ...

This morning was an early start back to Machu Picchu. The activity was a steep' stony uphill walk to the sun gate. Carrying a backpack with camera and other things made the climb difficult. But the view of Michu Picchu from that elevation was stunning as you are looking down on the whole city. We then took the train back to Ollantaytambo where we boarded our bus to cusco. Arrived here at dinner. Tomorrow is a guided morning walk with afternoon to ourselves. It wa...

Last night we experienced a 4.8 earthquake. The room and the beds swayed as well as the chandelier. Our first earthquake! We started the day with a walking tour of the lower part of ollantaytambo where the town is laid out as the incas designed it. People still live there and continue to practice some of the old inca ways, especially the way they live in their houses. After our town visit we took the train to Machu Picchu, an old single track train. The tracks fo...