Cuzco Part II and Lima

After we came back from Machu Picchu we spent some more time in Cuzco where we went to the huge artisan market and shopped and haggled our little hearts out. I always feel good about my haggling skills until someone else tells me they got a better deal, so we are not revealing prices for anything. Then I can continue to be happy with the prices I got. We also visited some museums in Cuzco and the ruins right outside the city.Chillin' in the WHEAT field! Look at all the Wheat! There were four sites outside the city spread over a few kilometers. Instead of hiring a taxi to drive us around we opted to walk it all. This field was on the way.
The military fortress of Saqsawaman, aka. sexy woman (say it out loud), outside of Cuzco. I like the big bricks, they were cool.

After three more nights in Cuzco we flew back to Lima. Lima is a big, ugly, city. Really, I think I could get used to it, but I am not a big fan of living in any big city, and Lima just isn't very pretty. Luckily the sun came out while we were there (a rare event) so it wasn't quite as bad. We first tried to go the the National Museum, but pulled up and the place looked deserted. Turns out it is closed for two weeks! Just our luck. We were kind of stuck on what we should do next and finally ended up going to the much smaller Archeology Museum (located in the house Bolivar lived in for a while). They had some cool things, but we were still disappointed that we couldn't go to the National Museum.

Next we had some McDonalds and headed over to the Gold and Arms Museum. This was definitely the highlight of our Lima stay. It was an incredible museum. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside, so you can check out their website for pictures of their collection, http://www.museoroperu.com.pe/. The Gold Museum is the biggest draw for most people. They have gold artifacts from all over Peru, ancient golden earrings, headdresses, tools, cups etc. It is hard to believe it really is all gold!This piece was at the archeology museum, where we could take pictures. Image rooms full of this for the gold museum.

The arms museum is pretty awesome too. They have weapon from all different times and have some pretty cool ones. They have a ton of guns, swords, samurai outfits, saddles, helmets, etc. I thought the coolest part was that they have swords that belonged to Napoleon, the Marquis de Layfaette, and Bolivar. Daniel has recently started collecting replicas of historic guns, and I think he was in heaven here. He had to take it all very slowly to digest everything.

The next day we went to some ruins outside the city, Pachacamac. These ruins were built mostly out of mud bricks, so there isn't a whole lot left there. It felt like we were in Egypt or something because the place it is at looks like a desert. The site has been an important ceremonial site for thousands of years and has been used by several different cultures, right up to Inca times. This was a temple that was actually reconstructed. Most of the buildings at Pachacamac didn't look this nice.

We also got to see the "changing" of the guard at the Presidential Palace (they didn't actually change the guards, the guards just left after the band played, which was really confusing for us.) And finally, Robert also got measured for two suits which he will pick up when he comes back to Lima. Next stop on our trip, Iquitos, the entry to the Amazon.