Peruvian Portals

I have a fixation for portals!  There is always a hint of mystique behind each - you never know what you'd find, although most of the time it's quite predictable, especially corporate portals.  I encountered a variety of portals on our Peruvian trip, especially closed ones in Lima because we visited on a long weekend - what luck!  (there's the glass half full for you...)

First day of arrival - portal of a church in San Isidro

Incan portal in Cusco's Koricancha Temple

Portal of the Pre-Colombian Art Museum in Cusco

Portal of the Gran Hotel Bolivar in Lima 

Have to sneak these elevator doors in here even though they are not technically portals

Classy doors in the Casa Belen, home of the Museum of Minerals in Lima

Inside the Convent Church of Santo Domingo

Museum of the Central Reserve Bank (the closed door meant we missed it)

International Bank of Peru

Lima Stock Exchange

Museum of Italian Art (yes, in Lima)

Entrance to Machu Picchu

Here's a different one, off the Jiron de la Union in downtown Lima

Restaurant in Miraflores with interesting door handles

Random door with unique knocker on the streets of El Centro

Another closed bank (it's a long weekend)

Sunat corporate portal

The Cathedral was closed too!

As was the Archdiocese administrative offices!

Inca portal in Ollantaytambo

Road to Cusco - Stunning Saqsaywaman

Cusco was only 72 km from Machu Picchu but we saw so much on the way it felt like it was much farther.  After the explosion of colour and sensations that we encountered at the farmers' market, we moved up the mountains and approached Cusco  from the top.   You will see below panoramic views of the Sacred Valley and of Cusco with its red roofs - quite a pretty sight.  On the outskirts of Cusco, we stopped by the stunning Saqsaywaman (that's right, sound it the way you see it!) - a fortress like structure with a presence that reminded us of Stonehenge, only more powerful and awe-inspiring. 

The stone work at Saqsaywaman, a UNESCO heritage site, is one of the most impressive in Peru, indeed in South America.  The precision of the Incan stone work, the snugness of the fit, together with how the walls were constructed leaning inwards were said to be the reason why they survived the many devastating earthquakes in the area through the centuries.  The Spaniards had stripped stones from here to build their houses.  What remained were the largest stones that were too huge to move.   You can see how huge they are below.

View of the Sacred Valley from the road

Panoramic view of Cusco

Our guide showing us the drainage holes built into the structure

A closer look at the interlocking stone work and the drainage

The huge boulders sat on stone foundations, built at angles 

Awesome!

This is supposedly the largest boulder in the complex

There are three walls in the complex, this is the outside wall.   The longest wall reached 400 metres and the average height is about 6 metres

Look at how one piece of stone was used to round a corner

Awe-inspiring!

At the end of our tour, this herd of llamas and alpacas brought us back to a more human scale, even from afar, across the plain of Saqsaywaman...

Peru - Andean Farmers' Market

Doesn't this photo of the peppers look familiar?  I remember taking a very similar photo at an Ontario farmers' market.  But that's where the similarity stopped.  The rest of the market looked very different from anything I'd seen.  We stopped by this farmers' market on the way to Cusco to catch a glimpse of local life.  

Even these squashes looked slightly familiar

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But not this farmers' transport - never seen a Honda like this one!

Nor farmers' like these...

These long grass-like plants look like guinea pig food

Now that's a familiar sight - little kid eating ice cream!

But not all these varieties of potatoes

or corn

Two Peruvian women were buying young chicks to raise at home.  It's cheaper than buying full grown chickens.

A happy sheep farmer

Sharing a break 

Yummyum...

Dried peppers

All kinds of beans

And of course, quinoa!

It was an eye-opening experience, and I hadn't even shown you the photos of the raw meat...

For more on Peruvian food, cooked, go to my food blog http://www.foodsparks.blogspot.ca