"The Navel of the World" a Cuzco Travel Page by mad4travel

Sacred capital of the Inca Empire and known to the early Incas as the ‘navel of the world’,
Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America. The city is filled with the Inca legacy, evident in the straight cobbled streets lined with the remains of exquisite stone walls built by the Incas, examples of ancient stonework incorporated into the structure of colonial churches and buildings, and the Quechua-speaking descendants of the Incas that fill the streets with their bright dress and colourful handicrafts

I was lucky enough to be in Cuzco around the time of Inti Raimi , the Festival of the Sun, celebrated on the southern hemishphere's winter solstice.

Unfortunately I could not get to the actual ceremony - which actually turned out to be a good thing as I had Macchu Picchu virtually to myself as everyone was here - but that's another story.

There are several days of processions that lead up to the solstice played out in Cuzco's main square.

It was a delight to sit up in one of the balcony cafes, sipping a cappuchino and watch the colour, noise, enthusiasm and celebration going on below.

These guys sure know how to party-the processions went on all day!

The first day of the parades were undertaken by university students. In between groups in national costume, students were also dressed up as doctors, nurses, engineers representing different faculties of the university.

The second day the parade was by schoolkids. There was lots rehersing all afternoon the day before in some of the smaller squares behind the main plaza.

Cuzco is a pretty cool place even without the festival. It has a pretty main square, interesting Cathedrals , churches and museums. There is plenty of inca foundations to be seen and people are very friendly.
We were given the usual warnings tho of not walking streets late at night or carrying large amounts of cash but we did'nt have any problems.

For more info on Cuzco check out my tips.

For more info on Peru check out my Peru and Macchu Picchu pages:
Peru Pages

Macchu Picchu Pages