On the second day we flew into the Peruvian highlands to the former Incan capital of Cuzco or Qosq'o in the ancient Quechua language.
Cuzco is a charming, if a bit touristy, city. It must have been quite the place back in the day. But, when old Francisco Pizzaro hit town in 1532 the jig was up. To make a long story short, the Spaniards basically stripped the town of anything valuable, wiped out most of the population, tore down many of the Incan temples and built Catholic churches atop the rubble for the few who were left alive.
Here on the Plaza de Armas in the city center you can see a couple churches. The stones from Incan structures were used to build them.
In some places the foundations of current buildings are the original Incan stones. We'll see later the genius of the mortarwork.
Native Dress. Now I don't know if the locals wear their colorful garb to entice the tourists into taking their pictures (after which you are invariably hit up for a little propino. "Two Sols, por favor") or that's still they way they dress. I suspect it's a little of both. In the tourist areas it's for dough. Back home it's for show. By the way, this practice is universal. And I've gotten pretty good at shooting on the sly. Why, I can look to the east, shoot to the west and pick my seat all at the same time.
Obligatory time exposure night shot from the balcony of my hotel room overlooking Qosq'o.
Tomorrow off to the (pre)start of the hike.
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