PERU 2025: Cusco day one

Posted on by Ian C.

Today we got the train from Aquas Calientes back to Ollantaytambo then a couple hours coach back to Cusco, with views along the way. Apparently we arrived in Cusco during a week of festivals with our hotel right in the center of the city – so exciting but busy!

From our hotel we walked to Qorikancha, an Inca “temple of the Sun” but with a Spanish church rudely dumped on top of it! Luckily some of the original walls remain …

Artwork and interpretations in the temple hint at Inca meanings of their sky views:

Returning to the hotel we again passed festival celebrations:

PERU 2025: Aquas Calientes

Posted on by Ian C.

We spent two nights in Aquas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain on which Machu Picchu is built, and here’s some views – it’s a tiny town full of tourists and buses taking people up to Machu Picchu, but it’s quite nice and had lots of interesting sculptures (even the trash bins are cute!) as well as good food choices …

PERU 2025: Machu Picchu day two “within the walls”

Posted on by Ian C.

Today another winding bus trip took us back to Machu Picchu, with many more people – but this time we got INSIDE on “circuit 3” close to the construction and able to really see the quality of stonework that Machu Picchu is famous for. When we arrived the views were quite heavily cloud covered but during our visit it cleared – the clouds do add some nice moodiness to the photos!