Peru, May 2000
Lake Sandoval at sunrise


Our first destination was Lago Sandoval, a remote lake in the Amazon jungle. The way there passes through Puerto Maldonado, a bustling river port at the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers.


The cathedral in Cusco



After two nights in the jungle, we flew to Cusco, 11210 feet up in the Andes. We had a couple of easy days to acclimate to the altitude.


Urcos on market day



About an hour outside of Cusco is the village of Urcos. It is the provincial capital of Quispicanchis. We went there on market day.



Uchuycosco in late afternoon


The next day we went for a walk in the mountains. After seven and a half hours, and a 14000 foot pass, we found ourselves the only visitors at Uchuycosco. This obscure ruin is not in any of our guidebooks. Its stone and adobe construction method is unusual for Inca buildings.


Weaver


On our rest day, we visited Huilloc, a small village near Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley. The people there are known for their weavings.




Intipunku at sunset


For our last destination, we rode the Machu Pichu tourist train up to kilometer 104, then hiked five and a half hours on the Inca Trail. The late afternoon view when we finally crossed the Gate of the Sun was stunning.








More info

Yahoo full coverage.
Lori Berenson: an American political prisoner in Peru.
US State Department travel warnings & consular information sheet.
The CIA World Factbook.
The encyclopaedia formerly known as Britannica.




These pictures were taken with a Canon EOS Elan 2E and a Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6. At Lago Sandoval and Puerto Maldonado I used Fujicolor Superia X-tra 800 film. Everywhere else I used Kodak Royal Gold 400. The pictures were processed by Keeble & Schuchat in Palo Alto, CA. They were scanned using a Plustek OpticPro 12000T with Micrografx Picture Publisher software, version 7a.


Peru: Puerto Maldonado Cusco Urcos Uchuycosco Huilloc Machu Pichu
Home : More travels Updated: 28 April 2002