history and tradition at 11,000 feet

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We arrived in Cuzco at 5am! After we checked in to our hotel, we took a walking tour of the city. There was some sort of parade going on and flags hanging from many of the buildings. Cuzco is very beautiful. Around the city, people were in traditional dress, offering you pictures of their llamas, alpacas, and various other farm animals. Children were having to work all day, offering various sundry items, such as: hats, dolls, bracelets, pictures of goats, sheep, alpacas, llamas, and many other things. At least 20 people on one street were opening menus and advertising restaurants. Imagine, you've just eaten, and then 10 more people advertise different restaurants to you. At least 50 people have offered the same massage place to me. Would you like a massage? How about now? What about now? It's like, Geez, I said no to her and all those other people, so why would I say yes to you? Your throat gets sore from saying no gracias. After all this, we went to Sacsaywaman.(Sack-say-wah-man). It is an ancient Incan fortress like building.The Incan walls here are made of huge stones carved to fit together like a puzzle. They did not use any mortar. The walls are held up by gravity and good masonry. After our walking tour we ate at a restaurant called Jack's which has excellent pancakes. That evening we went to a performance of traditional dances of this area. I noticed that some of the dances resembled dances we saw the Maori in New Zealand. They were all very interesting. I especially liked the one with a man dressed as a monkey in it.










We went to Machu Picchu yesterday and it was awesome! I'll post about that later. Also, the images are not loading properly so I will do an update with those later too.





Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Dear Ones - Great pictures and I love your hat ZJ!!
From the pics, it looks like you have been able to enjoy good weather.
Always more fun to see the sights in the sunshine.
Keep up the excellent work with your posting, I look forward to each and every one.
loads of love to all
Grandma Q
July 8, 2010 at 9:36 PM
Anonymous said…
Buenas Dias Zada,

You had some very interesting experiences in Cuzco. It sounds like the people are extremely persistent, but you know what you want and have made some very special and meaningful purchases. We can't wait to to see them in person! Glad to hear that your long-anticipated trip to Machu Picchu was "awesome". That should be a fascinating post. Travel safe and say hello to your Mom and Dad for us.

Love,
Nancy, Dave, and Kahlua

PS #1: Our refrigerator arrived damaged so we are still camping out at home!!! Sears says they will try again next week.

PS #2: Lisa is flying to Poland tonight for the weekend and she says "Hi!" to everyone.
July 9, 2010 at 8:24 AM
Anonymous said…
Can't wait for the Machu Picchu pictures. Loved the lama photos. Really looking forward to seeing you very soon.
Love always,
Maurin
July 9, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Anonymous said…
Very interesting pictures and description of the various areas you visited...especially Machu Piccu...fascinating! Godspeed to you and your parents!
K.Creeks
July 13, 2010 at 10:14 PM
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