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Our first stop in the Cuzco vicinity was "Koricancha". The Spanish built the Convent of Santo Domingo over it, but it was originally a very important "Sun Temple". The wall in the picture represents the original Inkan structure, which the Spanish built atop. It is surprisingly strong and stable.	Another shot of the original wall. The niches in the walls were originally plated in gold and held ornate statutes and religious artifacts. Just like in the Indiana Jones movies depicted, eh?	For sacred sites, the Inkans used a special form of construction without any mortar between the bricks. The rocks are carved smoothly to lock into each other precisely. This wall survived earthquakes much better than the surrounding Spanish construction.
Mas in front of the same wall. Wow. I can't believe how fine the lines are. I'm sure they're only visible because of age. It must have been seamless when it was made.	A shot of the outside yard [and I believe] cemetary. Even the original stairs have survived well.	A nice shot of Mas in front of a beautiful flower bush. I don't think she knew I was taking this one.
So, this is where I messed up. We visited a bunch of other ruins, but I ran out of batteries. I bought FOUR -- YES, FOUR -- additional sets of batteries from the street vendors. NONE of them worked. I thought my expensive camera was broken, but thankfully, it was just the batteries. These are all from a site called "Saksayhuaman" (pronounced "Sexy Woman"). It was strange that my camera started working just long enough to take pictures here. Hmmm ...
After a long day of trekking through ruins and cathedrals, we had dinner at a buffet restaurant. This shot is solely for Monica ... we missed you, especially when the dessert table came around. The Mango crumb cake was delicious.	We met a cool Japanese dude named Hi-Sashi during our travels. He joined us for dinner overlooking the Plaza del Armas. He has one of the coolest jobs I've ever heard of: he brings American musical productions to Japan. I think he said his last one was "Mamma Mia". Go Abba. The vicious-looking character is a local demonic figure in a dog-like costume.	Dinner a few nights later -- after our trip to Machu Picchu -- at Chez Maggy's Pizzeria. (Cuzco is quite the tourist town.) The gal on the right is Lili, our guide extraordinaire for the Inka Trail. We've been waiting for over an hour for our food; personally, the wine kept me happy.