Museums and Incan sites

I'm back with only one useful eye on the screen. We will need to go back into the recent past to finish our story, so I am making use of Mr Peabody's "Way Back Machine" to take us to August 1.

August 1 was the first day on the Incan calendar and the beginning of their earth month. It was also the day I began to lose vision in my right eye.

We began our first day back in Cusco, after our jungle adventure, by visiting the Museo Inka just off the Plaza de Armas. The museum rests on Incan foundations as does every church in town. The sunny courtyard is full of Andean weavers and inside the museum is the finest Incan collection in Cusco. The mummies are worth a trip to this museum.

In the afternoon we went on a city tour to Sacsaywaman (sounds like sexy woman)
This huge site is located 2km from town. In 1536 this was the area of the most bitter battles of the Spanish conquest.

We toured La Catedral, Cusco's oldest church filled from top to bottom with gold leaf and colonial art, especially works from the Cusco school of painting which combines 17th century European devotional painting style with motifs and customs of the Andean indigenous painter. One striking example is the painting of the Last Supper with a roasted cuy (guinea pig) laying on the table.


Next stop was Qoricancha, which is a colonial church and convent of Santo Domingo built on an Incan base. Then on to Tambomachay, Bath of the Inca, with stone baths and fountains.

As the sun set we visited Pucapucara, the Red Fort, with its red earth walls. We thought a city bus tour would be an easy day activity. Ha! More climbing and even more climbing until after the sun went down.