Cusco

We would have loved to stay longer in Cusco.  It's a charming city that's touristy but still filled with locals going about their business.  Above the city is Sacsayhuaman from around 1100AD.  It's quite amazing to see these huge boulders that were carved (without metal tools) and moved into place without the wheel.  There is no mortar and the site is still standing after numerous earthquakes!

The ruins of Tambomachay which has still operating Inca aqueducts and water channels.

Snow capped Andes in the distance

Potato farmers working near the ruins and then at lunch

The ruins of Qenko where human sacrifices were performed

Looking down into Cusco

Walking around the many squares of central Cusco

One of the lectures we had was by a fellow who collects Andean instruments.  He talked about each one and then played many of them for us.  Another great experience!

Our last dinner with our group in Cusco was at a restaurant overlooking the plaza.  The food was great and there was traditional entertainment after dinner.  A great way to end our trip!

A couple of final comments:  We thought Road Scholar did a great job.  We had knowledgeable guides in each location along with an organized leader who went with us everywhere.  That was extremely important on the day when our flight was cancelled.  While we would have liked more free time to do additional things on our own, we felt that we made a good decision in picking this tour.  We went to many places that we would have great difficulty doing on our own.  Secondly, we were quite worried about how the altitude would affect us.  We definitely FELT it, but we did not have any bad side effects.  A couple of people on our tour did request oxygen when we were in the Sacred Valley and Cusco.  We did take Diamox (the altitude prescription medication) for three days and drank coca tea (which was offered in all the hotels we stayed at).  We did not drink any alcohol either.  We were glad that the tour went up somewhat gradually so we could acclimate and that we weren't at Cusco at 11,000 feet until the end.  It was a great trip, but we were exhausted when we got home.  Of course, the 27 hour trip home from Cusco didn't help... (We had long layovers in Lima and LAX.)