Cusco and The Sacred Valley, Peru

Well, our time here in the Sacred Valley has almost come to an end, and tomorrow we´ll be off to Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian border. Our base for the last two weeks has been the ancient city of Cusco. One upon a time, Cusco was the center of the mighty Incan empire, who´s influence stretched throughout most of South America. However, in the early 16th century, the Spanish arrived, destorying the Inca cities, building there own new colonial ones over top, and leaving only skeletons of what was once one of the worlds great civilizations. Today, throughout the beautiful colonial city and spread across what the Incas called the ¨Sacred Valley¨ you can see many remain of Incan cities and religious sites, as well as a present culture with strong ties to their Incan roots. Machu Picchu is of course the most famous of these ruins, but there are many more that we have been checking out over the last couple weeks.
I just thought I would post a few pics of the area.

The Main Plaza of Cusco with the two massive Colonial Cathedrals

Breakfast over the City

Colonial Streets

Locals at the Sunday Market in Pisaq (Lisa´s picture)

More of the Sunday Market (also Lisa´s shot) Ancient Incan terraces at Pisaq Cusco by night from our hotel