Qenqo

A set of carved rock outcrops near Sacsahuaman, in the middle of a National Archaeological Park where you find many Inka period sites.


Oddities. Male and female dummies hanging from tree branch.



Llamas on the roadside.

Sacsahuaman

The supposed head of the puma form of the city of Cusco, this site is on a hill overlooking the Inka capital. Many of the stones were dismantled by the Spanish to rebuild the colonial city, but it still stands out for its large scale.

A view of the Plaza de Armas from Sacsahuaman.

The Site of Wari, Ayacucho

Great stone walls surrounding the capital of this expansive state. Note the abundance of cactus, which harbor cochineal, an insect used to make red dyes, and also give the prickly pear fruit.


We were able to enter a series of tombs.

A possible royal burial.

Tambo Colorado

Tambo Colorado, a large Inka waystation, where red, white, and yellow pigments have remained intact for 500 years.

We visited a hillside near the site covered in these looted tombs.

The mess of remains of the opened tombs: textiles, corn cobs, bones, and recently consumed Kola Real.

Islas Ballestas

The Guano Islands were mined by the Inka for agricultural fertilizer. They're still white with bird excrement, but are also home to Humboldt penguins and sleepy sea lions.

Ica and Huacachina

In Ica, Pisco, and everywhere into the highlands until Abancay, they drive these little scooter/motorcycle taxis. I'm not really sure what they are, but a ride almost anywhere sets you back about $0.30.




The oasis of Huacachina, a tiny town with a lagoon and sand dunes surrounding. A view of Ica from the top of a dune.

Just for Fun

Sleeping pup at a Nasca filling station.

Nasca Lines and Geoglyphs

The Panamerican Highway cuts through some of the lines in the pampa. The first image is a tree and some lines. They may have been astronomical markers, served some ritual purpose, or been meant for something yet unknown. We have to fly over them to see them as figures.

Nasca

I'm not very good at this formatting thing yet, so please bear with me.

The town of Nasca is quite proud of its geoglyphs, proud enough to recreate the monkey in grass on the plaza.

Haphazard arrangements of mummies and accompanying objects at Cementerio Chauchilla, a medium-level social class cemetery near the Nasca site of Cahuachi. Dang, girl, that's some long hair.

Aqueducts of Cantalloc, used since the time of the Nasca (over 1000 years). You can walk into the spiraling wells.

Pachacamac

The highly reconstructed aqllawasi, the sector where "chosen women" brewed corn beer, wove textiles, and cooked delicious Inka dishes.

Earlier ruins of the site. Notice the lack of vegetation.

And juxtaposed with the seaside view of the Inka-era religious sector, where the Rio Lurin only drips into the Pacific, but makes everything around it very green.

Huaca Pucllana

A site inhabited for hundreds of years by different cultures, located smack dab in the middle of urban Miraflores, Lima. Made completely of stacked little adobe blocks, which are remarkable well preserved because of the dry coastal climate.

By popular request

Some people have asked me to send photos/start a blog for my adventures in Peru. Here we go.