Though less plentiful than blue doors, there were red ones, as well.
The third picture is supposed to be the Inca’s throne, but, somehow, it looks a little ‘unfinished’ especially with the care the Inca’s put into carving stone steps you would think the throne would be more refined. The last 2 pictures are looking towards the cave and out from inside. the inside was rather elaborate, but too dark to get pictures.
If you use your imagination, this is a frog looking towards the heavens. This site, we were told, was used to do human sacrifices during years of drought. This frog was begging for rain. There was a compelling story told of young virgins being drugged and killed then mummified in large jars in the cave on this site. My Trek guide, Ramiro, would beg to differ. He does not believe the Inca’s sacrificed humans unless there were very rare, extenuating circumstances and even then he is skeptical. Based on everything I learned in Peru, I tend to believe he is the one who is correct.
This statue of Jesus was given to the people of Cusco by the Palestinians in 1941 as a gesture of friendship. It stands high above Cusco.
The large oval near the top of the plaque is how the Inca’s portrayed their supreme god. Since no on had ever seen this god, what he looked like was unknown. In one of the cathedrals, there was a stone in this shape placed there by the Inca workers to represent their god. They also painted pictures of Mary with a body in the shape of a mountain because to the Inca, mountains often were seen to contain Apus or demi gods. One such picture had her holding Jesus and there was a snake on her dress under him. Some of the halos were also either sun’s rays or moon rays. They had a lot of ways on putting their religious symbols into the churches they built for the Spaniards.
Cedar trees were all but eliminated from Peru as the Spaniards used them to build their cathedrals so they imported Eucyliptus trees which they are harvesting at a fast rate now trying to eliminate them because they use up too much of the nutrition in the ground and are crowding out the native plants.
One of the best dishes I tried in Peru. It was even on the breakfast buffet in one of the hotels I stayed in and we had it in the trail…..yum!
Everyone had to enter the walled cities through a control gate like this one.
There were these beautiful blue doors everywhere. I asked one guide the significance. His response was just that the Quechuan people had colorful door. I think there must be more to it than that.
It was cold yet the sales people were out waiting for every bus load of tourists. There are no towns nearby, but it is the highest spot on the highway and has an excellent view of the glacier so all the tour buses stop there – only for less than 10 minutes, but sales occurred even in that brief of time.
 | Stanley smith on Calgary International Airport |
 | Gramma Barbie on Calgary International Airport |
| Stanley on My Fascination With Doors |
| Stanley on The Tomb of Christopher Columb… |
| Gramma Barbie on The Language of my Though… |
Gramma Barbie Goes Global 