Cuzco - the old Inca capital

Cuzco is 3,310m above sea level, but not really feeling the altitude as we have already been much higher and hre acclimatised.

Today, Simon had planned a walking tour around the city following the Inca Wall Trail. We headed for San Blas which is the arty bohemian part of town, walking the cobblestoned lanes finding examples of Inca stonework. We even found a bakery for morning tea.

Jesuit church - Plaza De Armas

Thre Three Amigos - Plaza De Armas

We then toured Koricancha which was the Royal Inca Palace in Cuzco and now has a Catholic cathedral built on its Inca rock foundations.

Massive canvasses painted by artists of the Cusco School of Art

The grounds of Koricancha were once filled with hundreds of gold statues

After lunch we looked through the weavers museum displayed how the traditional weavers from the rural areas of Cuzco produce their work. The scarves, beanies, table runners etc are all still handwoven on a loom. They weavers spin their own wool and dye it using plants and flowers. Amazing work. I resisted the temptation of buying something there, wanting to purchase direct from the weavers in the Sacred Valley instead.

We then made our way to the Inca museum, which contained another interesting collection of pre Inca and Inca artifacts. 

Dinner was at a restaurant next door to the hotel, very nice organic food.
Today, I had been feeling very flat. By lunch time, my lips and chin had erupted into a mound of cold sores. OUCH!! A virus was taking hold! By dinner, tired and grumpy, I took the doctors advice, started some oral anitvirals and hoped that I would feel better tomorrow....