Pisac, Ollantaytambo, & Machu Pichu

I had arranged a three day, 2 night tour from Cusco to Machu Pichu in Cusco. We visited the ruins of Pisac and Ollantaytambo the first day and both have incredible views from the top of their terraces. It's pretty amazing to see such stone construction up so high on such steep mountains. The irregular stones were shaped to fit together perfectly and with no mortar of any sort.

As much as I dreaded Machu Pichu for it's crowds and overall "touristyness" it does live up to its name. Set within a stunning landscape your first view of the place is one of the best. I tried to get up to the top on the 'first bus' as promised on my tour, but after being passed by 12 buses on their way down from the site already, I resigned myself to waiting in line like most others would that day. The mountain seen in the background of Machu Pichu is called Wayna Pichu and actually has it's own ruins at the top. Only 400 people a day are allowed to hike that trail (about a 30-60 min scramble to the top) so I skipped my tour and headed straight to the entrance - only to be number 106. I passed about 50 people on the way up though :) Views from the top of Wayna Pichu down to Machu Pichu are also incredible, and again I was amazed at how a civilization could build such a structure at the top of such a steep mountain!

Puno & Cusco, Peru

Overland from Bolivia, around Lake Titicaca to Puno was my first stop in Peru. An interesting little town, know for its fiestas. I happened to be there for one of them, but not exactly sure what it was for - seemed to be a military thing of some sort. I didn't get a chance to get out on the Lake and see some of the islands and floating islands. A packaged tour bus took me from Puno to Cusco, which was a bit much at times shuffling along with the 100 other people at various historic sites along the way, but an experience none the less.

Cusco was a beautiful colonial city, but definitely well into the 'gringo' trail with backpackers and tourist agencies on every corner. Arranging my future travels to Pisac, Ollatytambo, and Machu Pichu was fairly easy, but after doing a tour I'd recommend to anyone with a little time and effort to DIY.