Local Navy Girl Visits Lost Inca City

Written By: Danielle Small  |  Posted: Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Imagine standing on a terrace of the Lost City of the Incas, also known as Machu Picchu. To your left is the towering mountain, Waynu Picchu; to your right is a brown alpaca lunching on some grass and right below is the village where Machu Picchu inhabitants once lived. Their quarters are so small that some tourists refer to them as midget dorms.

After some time in this illustrious city, you head down to its surrounding city, Aguas Caliente (translates to "hot waters" in English. The name derives from its many natural hot baths), where you are offered traditional Peruvian meat, cuy (pronounced kwee), which is the Peruvian name for guinea pig. You pass on the cuy, but you do try the alpaca meat. The meat is surprisingly tender and tasty and you wonder if the alpaca you're eating is a relative of the one you saw earlier.

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