Peru (day two)

        My second day in Peru (March 16), I didn't keep a diary. Maybe it was because I was exhausted from an extraordinary day of exploring, or maybe I was just lazy... But either way, there will be no traveling back in time and changing my decision now.

        That day left unrecorded in my journal was spent wandering the Cusco market place, hiking to a hilltop bell tower with my dad, and then riding a local bus to see the Inca ruins at Pisac. Thank God I took enough pictures to create a two-hour slideshow...

The main entrance to the central market of Cusco (located in the San Pedro district)

Women selling wheels of cheese (This stuff was remarkably strong, and when I first blindly tasted it sliced on a piece of bread, I had to ask what I was eating. I was surprised to hear "queso"!)

Spices, dried fruits and nuts, stacked neatly in enormous bags, lined marketplace isle ways. 

Yes, those are cows' snouts. Apparently this is a delicacy in Peru... which I was unfortunately never able to taste.

An entire hallway filled with colorful flowers in the El Mercado Cenral de San Pedro

Traditional dresses (sized to fit young girls) on display and available for purchase

This must be one of the most beautiful photos I captured in the entirety of my time in Peru. Upon leaving the marketplace, my dad and I began a trek uphill to visit a hilltop church visible from the city center below. We passed this woman selling flowers.

As we climbed closer to the church, the high altitude of Cusco in combination with the exercise began to take its toll on my breathing and my energy level. I felt a bit lightheaded... but I managed to get a fabulous shot of the city below me.

Ah! Victory at long last!

To my surprise, the door to the church's bell tower was ajar. Dad and I, of course, took advantage of the situation, and were rewarded with an awesome areal  view of Cusco.

Entering Pisac, I noticed the buildings had a different type of charm than the buildings of historic Cusco.

Running down the middle of the walkway is a simple drainage system which helps to prevent flooding in the rainy season.

Can you see the woman carrying her flowers in the background?

This drainage route is decorated with the head of a snake (an important symbol in Incan mythology, representing nature and fertility).

I found the best prices on souvenirs and Peruvian trinkets at the Pisac outdoor market.

A stray dog sought shade underneath the marketplace tables.

We took a taxi to the ruins above the city, and were welcomed my the looming wall of the ancient fortress.

The landscape was laced with hundreds of terraces.

We hiked around a bit, and walked through crumbling doorways hundreds upon hundreds of years old.

Those Incas loved to build their stone cities on the steepest slopes... My calf muscles did not thank them!

The ruins at Pisac were the very first Incan remnants that I visited in Peru, and I was far from disappointed. They took my breath away.

In the mountainside across from the Pisac ruins, was an enormous, vertical graveyard. It's odd for me to realize that the entire time I walked through the weathered stone buildings, their rightful owners were watching me with their dead eyes from a mile away.