If you look closely, you can see extensive earthquake damage to the church, which is unsafe for use

Alpaca dressed up for pictures with the tourists

Extensive terracing, most of which pre-dates the Incas

Colca valley, with it's namesake river below

Yanque and Colca valley

May 22, 2022 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 32 °F

We stopped in a small town in the Colca valley. While there was some interesting history, all I could think was "tourist trap". The dance is Quechua, called Wipiti, where the male warriors dressed and danced like women to confuse the enemy. The Franciscans came and built a church atop a Quechua holy site and proselytized in Quechuan ... but the Incan religious leaders used a different language for worship entirely. The two religions coexisted and to some extent melded in the region. I also included some random Colca valley pictures and a couple of alpaca 🦙 we saw along the way.
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