Peru tours
Peru Information
Peru 4U
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Area map
Cusco
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Cusco Peru information
Visiting Cusco Peru is vital for your Peru travel adventure. This colorful,
picturesque town still breaths the atmosphere of the status
it once had: the center of the Inca Empire.
Cusco Peru is the doorway to Machu Picchu, and with
almost 300,000 residents it remains an important city. Although
Cusco was heavily damaged by the Spaniards, the Inca city is
still very much in evidence. Walls, doorways, foundations, arches,
and even decorative stonework are found throughout the city,
incorporated into newer structures. Cusco also contains extensive
Inca ruins like the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. The city
is also the acclimatization point for the celebrated high altitude
trek: the Inca Trail. Below you will find information about
interesting places in the area of Cusco.
Sacred valley of the Inca's
You can not miss the beautiful and attractive Sacred Valley
of the Incas. It stretches out from Pisac to Ollantaytambo
along the Urubamba river or "Sacred River". This valley was
very much appreciated by the ancient Incas because of its
excellent qualities to cultivate agriculture. Due to the amount
of soil, it was one of the areas where the best corn was grown.
It was also the favorite place of the Viceroys because of
its excellent weather. The Sacred Valley is one of the most
important parts of Cusco. Numerous rivers converge in it.
Most of them have their origin on the Icy Mountains. It is
absolutely worth while going to the Sacred Valley of the Inca's.
Pisac
Pisac is a picturesque town with colonial and mestizo characteristics.
Every tuesday, thursday and sunday they have a souvenir market
on the plaza, and on sunday a mass in Quechua with the presence
of the local authorities. On top of the mountain, right on
the back of Pisac, you can find the fascinating archeological
complex the most outstanding remains are: Qanturaqay, Amaru,
Punku e Intihuatana and Tanqanamanka, considered the largest
pre-Colonial remains in Latin-America.
Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo is considered as a very interesting city because
they still keep the old ways of living, the amazing Irrigation
Systems.Even though they have modern restaurant and hotels
all of them get their water supplies by this irrigation system.
Up on the mountain you can see the gorgeous Andes and the
monoliths made out of granito rosado or pink stone. Another
attraction would be the narrow roads drawn on a perfect straight
line and just like old times they still keep their aqueducts
located on the middle of the road. All these streets have
kept their Inca names and the people living here still wear
the traditional costumes.
Chinchero
There is no way you can leave Cusco without visiting Chinchero,
this little town is quite important because there is the possibility
of seeing the exchange of products instead of buying or selling
for money on the sunday market, this was a tradition taught
by the Incas, caused by the absence of an official currency.
It also has a fantastic church where you can appreciate some
artworks from the Cusqueñan Art School as well as great ornaments
which show off its decoration.
Moray
Moray (3,500 meters) lies 74 km from the city of Cusco. It is famous for its sunken amphitheater, made up of four circular terraces which appear to disappear into the earth like an artificial crater. The site was apparently an Inca agricultural research station designed for experimenting with crops at various altitudes (some of which run down to depths of 100 meters). It is believed that the terraces, built over containing walls filled with fertile earth and watered by complex irrigation systems, enabled the Incas to grow more than 250 plant species.
Train Cusco-Puno
The train ride from Cusco to Puno is gorgeous. We offer you
the opportunity to go by train to Puno. |
