Framedlight

I wanted to do something with the pictures I took when in Peru and Bolivia, so I have prepared a book on the Peru part of the journal, based on entries in this bog but with a little more attention to the writing. This is coming out through Blurb, very soon. But I wanted to produce an electronic version as well. Through Blurb the publication of an ebook, aimed primarily at the iPad, but watchable on other devices as well, is a cheap alternative to a book. There seems to be no added charge for extra pages which is nice. It also has the advantage that it can be edited after it has been published, so that, if you decide to add something else, or notice a spelling mistake you can go back in and alter it. Obviously it would need to be downloaded again. The only downside is that the software Blurb supply is rather cranky, and hangs up from time to time. So, I have just produced an ebook,  'Pictures from Peru'. This is 95% pictorial and contains pictures from Peru, excluding Machu P...

Map of the Inca Trail Monday April 15th - Day 1 of the Inca Trail. We had to get up really early and crept out of our hostel to meet the bus at 4.30am. We were not in the best of health - Mairi had had a stomach upset for a few days and had spent most of the preceding day in bed. I had not slept properly for 3 nights. Naomi seemed Ok, but she was to suffer later on in the trek. The square was dark and the Llama Path porters, or chatskis as they will be referred to (an Inca term meaning runners) were on hand serving coca tea (we did not indulge as it tastes really bad, although it is supposed to be good for altitude.)   The bus drove us up in to the hills to Ollantaytambo, where we stopped for breakfast. Dawn was just appearing. The Chaskis in smart Llama Path gear Early morning Ollantaytambo We then drove along by the railway line to Km88 (2,800m - the official start of the Inca Trail. Here we met our two guides - Saul the main man who had excellent Engli...

You can catch a minivan from Cusco up into the hills to an Inca site called Tambo Machay. You may then walk downhll into Cusco, passing several other sites. The whole thing takes a day. Tambo Machay has some hewn stone and a channel for a fresh water spring. It is thought that the Incas used it for water worship or some sort of ritual cleansing. At the entrance to the site there was the normal group of people selling handicrafts and a lady with two alpacas posing for photographs at the cost of 1 sol (25p) It is not far down the hill to the site of Puca Pucara where there is a group of Inca buildings standing on a promontary, thought to be used as a hunting lodge or a watch tower. The hills from Puca Pucara   By the way the Incas were in existence from the 13th Century until 1532 and the Spanish invasion. From Puca Pucara it is a fairly long hike to the next Inca site. We walked down past a pond and some fields where people were working. There we...

Day 2 in Peru - the Sacred Valley We got up and caught the bus to Pisac. First we went round craft market where ladies  were weaving. We then caught taxi to Pisac to visit some of the Inca ruins. The site is a collection of different sets of ruins which you walk down through, eventually arriving back in Pisac , The first site is called Qanchisracay and was thought to be  the Inca fortress. Then you walk up to another called Hanan Pisac. This was very busy as a number of tourist buses had arrived. We then walked down to the lower one, Intihuatana the sun temple which contains a sacred sculpted rock, the hitching point of the sun. The tourists had not got this far, which is strange as this is the most important part of the site. A stream ran through the site and there was a small basin for bathing before performing the rites. Mairi at Hanan Pusac We then walked down to Pisac past a small Inca site. The side of the mountain was terraced and a waterfall ca...