Thor's Epic Journey pt. 5 - Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru

Alright, a quick post from the Sacred Valley of the Incas in the Andes mountains of Peru!

The valley, which is close to Cuzco, had special religious significance for the Incas, and hence had lots of old structures from Incan times. Most of all, however, it was just so incredibly beautiful!

First, I went to an Alpaca farm! It was crazy! Alpacas and Llamas are truly princes among animals!

Also, they are delicious:

That's right, I had lunch at the most beautiful restaurant I have ever seen, like an oasis in the otherwise winter-like Andes.

Yup! Alpaca tastes kind of like beef, I guess.


The whole reason for this trip, though, was to visit an Inca fortress. As with Machu Picchu, these installations are just so huge it's hard to believe they're built using manpower alone.


The particularly cool thing about this place was that it was being built just as the aforementioned Spaniards were on their merry way across the Andes, and were about to invade Cuzco, the Inca capital. So the workers put down their tools to go help the Incas against the invasion. However, not only did the Spaniards bring effective weapons and military strategies, they also brought various diseases and such, so the native population dwindled rapidly. Consequently, the fortress was never really finished. The cool thing about that is that you can see how the structures were built. Above, for instance, you can see how they made little "humps" in the rocks, so that they could lift them into place and make walls et.c. Later they would chisel those away, but here, they didn't have time, thus giving us clues as to how these structures were built!


Yup, it's me, in the sexy door opening!


After touring the fortress, I took a stroll through a little village that surrounds it. It was beautiful, built in a traditional Inca style.

Here's a funky drainage thingy, shaped like an Anaconda!



Later I went to a little workshop where the local people made clothes and such to sell at the little markets around town. It was really cool, the showed how they made everything from soap to the various dyes and colors used in the clothing.

Then I went to this old colonial church. Just as in Cuzco, the church was Spanish, and built on top of Inca ruins, with massive amounts of gold covering the various art inside the church.

Most of all though, Peru is just incredibly beautiful.

Alright, next stop: Buenos Aires!