terraces

Pisaq, September 2011

	Tourist bait in the village.
	Some locals climbing the terraces.
	Locals in context.
	Pausing to enjoy the view on our way up.
	Flowering cactus.
	Close-up of the cactus flower.
	Another cactus, with flowerbud and old fruit.
	The locals stopped for a picnic.
	Another cactus flower.
	Still going uphill...
	What's that structure up there?
	Unidentified flower.
	Cactus flower, with terraces in background.
	A view of the nearby mountains.
	The trail traversed an extremely steep slope.
	More terraces on this side of the hill.
	Using the original stairs.
	Reich and Zuzana posing on the terraces.
	Ruins below this seet of terraces.
	More spiny vegetation.
	Another unidentified flower.
	Temple complex near the top of the ridge.
	Overview of the temple complex.
	View down to the village.
	Temple complex and surrounding hills.
	A spiny bromeliad.
	Caves high along the side of the valley - we were told these held tombs.
	Zuzana reaching the highest point she can.
	The ruins have a good view of the valley.
	Same temple complex as before - you can see the curved wall of the sun temple in this shot.
	Detail from the sun temple. I don't know what those little square holes are for.
	View down to the entrance and the terraces we climbed at the beginning.
	Guard tower or granary on a cliff along the ridge.
	Detail of sporangia on a fern.
	More unfriendly vegetation.
	Looking up to the ridge.
	Other tourists using the stairs on the terraces.
	Palm tree and mountains.
	Back in Cusco next day: Sunday parade.
	Some kids know that they want to be when they grow up, I guess.
	These boys do.
	The older generation seems unimpressed - but maybe he'd rather they join the police, like him.
	Next stop, the market. A small sample of the varieties of maize and beans for sale.
	Freeze-dried potatoes (farmers just peel them and leave them outside overnight at high altitude).
	Donkey snouts - I didn't ask for a recipe.