Sorry for our delayed update but once we got back from Cusco we left the next day to go to the Colca Canyons for two days.

Our last day at Cusco was supposed to be a 4 hour tour of some of the Inca ruins around Cusco. However, it ended up being about a 3.5 hour tour with some miscommunication at the beginning of the tour about if we had paid for the trip, and dropping us off at the airport 15 min before the tour should have ended.

Here is a photo of the Cusi Wasi hotel where we stayed for our two days in Cusco.

This photo is taken high above the city facing down on the Cusco city center.

My dad decided to have the guide stray about the information of the town of Cusco and we all leaned about this school. As you can see the kids closest to us were the ones that had showed up late for the day. Then the kids down below were doing something where one kid came to the front of all of them and sang.

Our first actual Inca ruin we visited today was “Sacsaywaman” (our guide says it is pronounced like sexy woman), as you can tell from the picture it was a little cold outside today. Well I am not sure if it is this cold but it was definitely a little colder than the other days.

This is a carving of a snake next to a doorway at Sacsaywaman.

Again they are not 100% sure what this site was used for by the Incas. Some believed that Sacsaywaman was used as a fortress because they think a huge battle was fought here against the Spaniards and the rebellious Incas in 1536. However, our guide believes that this site was used to worship the Sun.

This photo shows how the Incas put walls together by just piecing stones together.

This photo shows how the corners of the Incas building/walls were all one piece.

This photo is from “Q’enqo” a place that they believe the Inca’s held sacrifices. As you can see in the picture this is under the rocks and a table is carved out of one. They believe that people or animals were brought here first to be embalmed.

Another photo from Q’enqo, this rock was believed to be worshiped. However, people are not sure if this rock (sculpture) is a Puma (from one angle) or a frog (from another angle).

Next we visited Pukapukara where it is believed that this site could have been a way to control who was coming into and out of the City. Or it could have just been a resting spot for the Incas right before the start of the Inca trail to Machu Pichu.

The last site we visited was Tambomachay. This first photo has nothing to do with the Incas but we thought it was interesting how someone carved this bench out.

Tambomachay is a site that had numerous natural springs. From those springs the Incas created very extensive channels to move the water around the site. Here are a few photos:

The final stop on our Cusco tour was back in the downtown where we walked around for awhile. Here is a picture in the Artists quarters:

When the Spanish took over Cusco from the Inca’s they had tore down most of the Inca’s temples/buildings. In an effort to get the Incas to conform to Catholicism they created the Spanish churches from parts of the Inca buildings. As you can see in this picture the door and the bottom stones of the church are from an original Inca building.

Here is a small street that looks like cars shouldn’t drive down. However, on our walk down this street we had to hug the buildings quite a few times as the cab drivers speed down the street. Notice that there are not really any sidewalks either.

This stone from the Inca’s is a 12-angled stone. Some people first believed that the Inca’s carved this out because there are 12 months in a year. However, we know that is probably not the case as they did not use a 12 month calendar.

The photo below shows a balcony that was carved out of Cedar Wood.