Cusco

We flew to Peru on LAN. We all lined up at the airport terminal, only to find not a plane, but several buses, which drove us out to the plane on the tarmac. Then, we had 5 hours before our flight to Cuzco, so I found a deserted gate with comfy seats, and I slept for a few hours. When I awoke, there were about 50 people waiting for their plane. I really liked the quaint city of Cuzco. It has cobblestone streets, lots of nightlife, and its fairly safe. It's set at 10,000 feet in elevation, so it takes a few days to acclimate.

Many of the women in Cuzco and surrounding villages wore the traditional clothing I had seen in pictures. It was always the same: slip on shoes, leggings, pleated skirt, sweater, hat, and blanket tied around the back like a backpack. I got to hold this baby alpaca. It's fur was sooo soft.

When the Catholics arrived, they destroyed much of the Inca's religious sites, but they also left some treasures. Some of the streets, like this narrow one, were actually made by the Incas.

This Catholic church was built over a huge Inca temple.