I'm now back in Cusco with Preeti and Jacquie, after having an awesome (although ridiculously expensive) time at Machu Picchu and in the SacredValley. Before I get into the details though, there's something FAR more exciting and FAR more important that I need to say. It's the type of thing that can change people's lives as it saturates media coverage and absorbs public interest. While we were in Ollantaytambo (one of the towns in the SacredValley) we were told that Cameron Diaz is not only here, in Peru, she's in CUSCO!!! Needless to say, the three of us decided that our measly plan to "see the sites" and to "try to get to know Peru " didn't even BEGIN to match the importance of trying to spot Cameron Diaz, if even only for a second. So we gave up our plans and started searching in crowds, around street corners, at major tourist sites and ridiculously expensive hotels for anyone who appeared to be blond, famous, and surrounded by ridiculously ripped body guards. So far our search has turned up nothing, but our sources tell us she'll be at the Inti Raymi festival tomorrow, so our hopes are high. I'll keep you posted.

Right, so back to Machu Picchu and the SacredValley. Now, before starting this trip I had given myself a hopeful (though perhaps not very realistic) budget of $15 USD a day. When we were in Ecuador, this was no problem. Hotels were cheap, we were eating a crap load of jam sandwiches, and we had free places to stay in Quito and the communities. Once we got to Peru, though, things started to get a little bit more expensive. Not too much more, but the budget went up to around $18 or $20, as buses and hotels cost more and as I got tired of Jam sandwiches (I've since moved on to avocado and cheese).It was all manageable though, and the savings from Ecuador sort of balanced out the splurging in Peru.However, this whole "budget" thing went out the window as soon as we hit Cusco, and more specifically Machu Picchu.The train ride alone (3 hours round trip) was $50, plus $20 entrance, plus $6 for the ride up, plus $8 for two fricken sandwiches, plus $10 each for a guide.All in all, the Machu Picchu part of the trip (one fricken day) cost me about $100 USD. And that was with all the "deals" and "student fairs" we could find. It was ridiculous?especially the train portion.I sure as hell hope the train company is paying a lot in taxes, because it's just sickening how much they must make every day.If none of that, or very little of it is going to Peru, then the country is getting screwed.

Either way, ridiculous pricing aside, the ruins are phenomenal!It's actually quite interesting comparing these ruins to those in the SacredValley and Cusco.In reality, Machu Picchu really isn't that big, but the fact that the Spanish never had a chance to destroy them, makes them spectacular?that and the scenery in and around the site.If only two things can be said about the Incas, it's that they knew good scenery and stone work.As most of the pictures suggest, the site is surrounded by mountain cliffs, cut out by the river that runs below.What I found fascinating is how the Incas managed to incorporate so many images into the city and surrounding mountains.The entire site is made in the shape of a Condor, with one half in the shape of a Puma and the other in the shape of a flying lizard.If you look closely at the three small mountains behind the site, you can see the shape of a perched Condor, while if you have an aerial view of the larger mountain, you'll see it more or less in the shape of a Puma, ready to pounce, with a face weakly carved into the cliff.In the first three examples, the Incas actually planned their cities to take the shape of the animals, where as in the last two, they altered the environment slightly to try and further create the animal in the mountains (for example, they added terraces to one of the mountains that made up the Condor, to depict the telltale neck feathers).

The Incan stone masonry was also amazing.While with the less important buildings they used mortar, with the temples and the houses of the nobility, they carved the stones so perfectly, that they fit together without any mortar, and were more or less resistant to Earthquakes.It was quite a remarkable feat, considering their level of technology.

The great thing about Machu Picchu, however, as I was touching on earlier, is that everything is more or less in tact.There are a few places that have been destroyed by weathering and 500 year of existence, but for the most part the walls are in excellent condition and the only thing missing is the thatched roofs that would have covered most every building.Machu Picchu also has, as far as I know, one of if not the only intact SunTemple in the Inca Empire.When the Spanish arrived, they decided stealing gold and destroying empires wasn't quite enough, they also needed to save the lost souls of the Incan savages.Part of this meant that they had to abolish any existing belief system that was contrary to Christian ideology, and with that they destroyed all of the religious temples.Not only that, but in Cusco, just to rub it in, they build one of the biggest churches in the city, on top of what once was the largest and most important Incan ceremonial site in all of the empire, Q'oricancha.So much for loving thy neighbour?

Now just before I move on, I'll say one more thing about Machu Picchu and the Incas. Now, everything the Incas did in terms of structural layouts of their cities, was done for a reason.And that reason was usually religious and pertained to the movement of the sun.When we arrived, on the 20th of June, I didn't even realize that we were only a day away from their winter solstice, one of the most important days in Incan ideology.What the Incans did, is they observed the effects the solstice had on the lighting of the city, and carved telltale solstice signs, in and around the place.In this way they could know when the solstice was occurring and therefore when to plant crops and how to arrange their year etc.Unfortunately, even though we arrived on the first bus, we didn't realize that it was the solstice, so, stupidly, we missed all of these phenomenons.Either way, the fact that everyone else was checking them out, meant that we were able to explore the ruins more or less on our own for the first couple hours.It was a pretty awesome feeling, wandering through the ruins all on my own, especially when compared to the number of day trippers who arrived from Cusco at 11:00 and just filled the place.By the end of the day (12 hours later) when we arrived back in Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu), we were all exhausted, but it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

So after visiting Machu Picchu, we made our way up the sacred valley, spending one day/night in Ollantaytambo, and another day in Pisac, before returning to Cusco. The highlight of this part of the trip was definitely the ruins at Ollantaytambo.Now, I was saying before hand that the ruins at Machu Picchu are actually fairly small in comparison to what lies at other Incan sites and that couldn't be more true for Ollantaytambo.Whereas only about 1000 people would have lived in Machu Picchu, about 2500 are believed to have lived in Ollantaytambo.The site was a military, economic, administrative and religious site, with entire hillsides dedicated to the beautification of the temples, while agricultural terraces littered the valley and a gigantic wall, spotted with guard posts spanned the main city centre.While the Spanish successfully destroyed the temple and many other important areas around the site, the ruins are still in reasonably good shape.What's really neat about this place is that the entire town that lies beside the ruins is built on old Incan foundations.In fact, no one in the town actually owns their houses/buildings (unless of course you're rich, in which case anything goes?) because the entire town is considered an important historical site.According to the lady who ran our hostel, this was even the reason why there was no water on the second day (something to do with cleaning the original infrastructure and not being able to replace it).What's even more interesting about this site is that it is the only Incan fortification where the Incas actually beat the Spanish in combat.Unfortunately the Spanish just came back with more troops and took control, but the original battle was won by the Incas.

On a side note, another interesting thing we learned at this site is that the Incas filled every agricultural terrace that they built with three layers of materials.The bottom layer was filled with small pebbles and rocks, so as to allow for drainage, while the middle layer consisted of sand that was supposed to regulate the humidity of the fertile soil that made up the third layer.

After our stay in Ollantaytambo, we headed to Pisac to see another set of ruins.For the most part these ruins were starting to get a bit average, but the one distinct thing that Pisac offered was its massive grave site.As it turns out, the Incas dug over 2000 graves into one of the hillsides.The bodies were then placed in these graves in the fetal position (like many cultures, they believed the dead were reborn in the afterlife) and were covered from their heads to their necks with earth.The head, however, was left uncovered and facing in the direction of the sunrise (once again, everything was centered on the sun as a religious icon).

So we returned to Cusco on the night of the 22nd and spent the 23rd and 24th in and around the city.The best part was that we had planned our stay in Cusco around the Inti Raymi festival.The festival itself dates back to Incan times when it was originally held on the 21st.The Spanish then came along and changed the date, but the festival is, at least in part, still held as it was hundreds of years ago.Now before I got into details about the festival, I should make a note about Latin American celebrations.Whereas in Canada we only celebrate the day of, Latin American festivals (at least in Ecuador and Peru) start a few days before hand.In this sense, the celebrations (and ALL the drinking that goes along with them) last for at least 3 or 4 days, if not the whole week.So the parades, music, drinking and every other type of celebration had been going on since our first day in Cusco last Monday and the city was filled with a party atmosphere.In the end, we didn't even really go to many museums or churches or anything, because we spend most of our time wandering around the city and checking out the celebrations.The entire festival culminated in a reenactment of the Incan rituals, as they started at Q'oricancha, moved to the main plaza (which was twice its size in Incan times) and then up the hill to the religious site of Sacsaywaman.The reenactment was complete with soldiers, sacrifices (although they were fake), priests, Virgins of the sun, and of course, the Inca himself.It was really quite spectacular, as the hilltops in and around the site filled with spectators. We didn't manage to see the part at Q'oricancha, but the rest was excellent.

As for right now, we're still in Cusco (having not seen Cameron Diaz) and we're about to go pick up one last Lucuma smoothie (seriously, they are just about the best thing in the world?.up there with mangos) and some lunch before we catch a bus to Puno, a town right beside Lake Titicaca.We'll then spend two days on the lake doing some island hoping, before we head to Bolivia and La Isla del Sol.

I should also say that while I've put up more photos, they're by no means complete.The three of us have been taking different photos with different cameras, with the idea of compiling all our photos at the end.In that sense, I've taken a bunch of photos on Preeti and Jacquie's cameras.I'll try to put them up later when I have time.

I'm not sure when my next chance will be to write, but it may not be until Bolivia.Either way, don't lose faith; I will be updating this every chance I get. Hope you're enjoying the posts.Thanks for reading.

Taylor