Saturday, April 9, 2011

Perú: The Greatest Hits

OK, maybe these aren't the greatest hits—some of the best times we had in Perú were in and around Chachapoyas. But in mid-February, we spent ten days visiting some of the country’s other beautiful and fascinating places: Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, Raqchi, Lago Titicaca and Lima. The trip was such a whirlwind that we’re only now getting the pictures up.




At the ruins of an Incan palace, Cusco. (Noemí Huañec Casa)



The upside to long bus trips is that you can meet some cool people, like Noemí. A tour guide in Cusco, she was kind enough to spend her afternoon off showing us around Sacsayhuamán, the temple/fortress complex high above the city. (KK)





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Puma-faced lamp post on Cusco's main plaza. (KK)



Plaza de Armas, Cusco. (KK)



Ollantaytambo, where the Inca-built water system still works. (KK)



Craft market, Ollantaytambo. (KK)



Ollantaytambo (MK)



At the Ollantaytambo train station.



The roaring Urubamba from the train to Machu Picchu. (KK)



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An unexpected Machu Picchu resident, a chinchilla. (MK)



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We climbed Huayna Picchu, the tall peak behind the city, a steep trail with encouraging signs along the way. (KK)



A long way down to the Urubamba. (KK)



We traveled back to Cusco and then from there to Puno, stopping along the way at Raqchi, an Incan village in the Sacred Valley. (MK)



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Vendors at the Raqchi market. (KK)



And their kids playing under the market tables. (KK)



The altiplano on the way to Puno. (MK)



From Puno, we took a boat trip on Lago Titicaca. (KK)



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Approaching one of the floating islands. (MK)



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One of the residents of the floating island, with her children and a tapestry she made. (MK)



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Then the boat continued to a permanent island, Taquile. (MK)



You can just see Bolivia on the horizon. (MK)



Village musicians. (MK)



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The men on Taquile knit constantly. (KK)



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Then it was back to Lima. (MK)



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And after one last jouncy bus ride (that's Rie in the mirror), it was into a cab and off to the airport to head for Chile. (KK)

3 comments:

Carolyn E. said...

Breathtaking photos! Thanks for posting!

Boo Howe said...

Awesome photos! Rie & Kath...you guys are amazing!

Kathleen Kearns said...

Aw, shucks. Thanks! And thanks for taking a look!