On a Cuzco Behind the Scenes Gate 1 optional tour. We had a Peruvian shaman come to our hotel. It was a ceremony to heal what ails you. Julio, our tour manager, translated what the shaman was saying.

The shaman started out putting different items on a cloth.

Then he passed out coca leaves to us.

Coca leaves. Chewing coca leaves are not considered addictive even though they are the raw ingredient in making cocaine. They contain alkaloids which coffee and cacao also have. Though it takes a a great concentration of coca leaves to make cocaine, if you either chew coca leaves or drink coca tea, you will test positive for cocaine.

The shaman has added more ingredients to the cloth before blessing some of them. We were invited to leave something of our own by the cloth to help in our healing. I left my red eyeglass case.

The final concoction before being folded up in the cloth.

Then the shaman placed the cloth on each of our heads and said some words of a blessing.

The shaman and Julio. It was a different experience. See movie of the shaman in the Day 10 Peru album.

We went next to a large market, a mercado. This was my third visit to a market in Peru.

The colorful fruit section.

A fruit vendor.

Hanging grapes.

This little boy went to work with his mother and found a place to play under the table.

An old woman vendor.

Another young child at work with his mother.

The vegetable part of the market.

These potatoes actually grow attached to each other.

The woman on the right is buying food for her guinea pigs.

Signs above the stalls tell you where different foods are being sold. Items for menudos, meat, and eggs and cheese.

The woman's stall was the floor. She was selling some kind of fish.

This woman's stall was also the floor. She was selling greens. She looks so sad.

The first photo I took of her was a "sneak" photo, but I next asked her if I could take her photo and got a smile from her.

Queso (cheese).

This vendor was also selling coffee and chocolate.

The chocolate.

Two more children who were at work with their mother. A sad one and a curious one.

An older vendor waiting for customers.

We left the market to drive to our next destination. Mural on a building's wall.

The mural.

More of Cuzco.

Farther along.

Farther along.

People on the street.

A fruit market.

A street vendor.

Farther along.

Farther along and more vendors.

Farther along.

We are at our next destination--a cemetery. There were murals along the outside walls of the cemetery. This mural is of a Cuzco Virgen del Carmen procession.

More of the mural.

More of the mural.

Beginning of another mural.

More of the mural.

More of the mural.

More of the mural.

More of the mural.

More of the mural.

The cemetery's church.

Close-up of the bell tower.

The entrance to the Cementerio General de Almudena.

The gate was built in 1850.

The cemetery.

The cemetery.

The cemetery.

Entrance to the mausoleum.

Close-up.

Close-up of the vaults. These look very old.

More of the vaults.

Close-up of the front of a vault. The front of the vaults are decorated with photos, flowers, ceramics, etc.

A vault.

A vault.

A vault.

Two people can be buried in one vault. Here, interred together are a grandfather and a grandmother.

You can hire someone to both shine up the outside of the vault--done with a lime and a lot of elbow grease--and also to place fresh flowers or new items in it. This young man was giving us a demonstration of how the metal is shined with a lime and a cloth.

The real flowers are replaced when needed.

To visit the cemetery is considered to be a happy occasion and you can hire a musician to play for you while you visit a vault. See movie in the Day 10 Peru album.

Leaving the cemetery.

Before the cemetery's exit: a small chapel.

A folk art Christ.

Looking at Cuzco from the cemetery.

Another view.

Another view.

Back on the road. A modern section of Cuzco.

Passing Marilyn.

Our last stop was for a cooking demonstration at a restaurant.

The chef was showing us how to make lomo saltado, a beef stirfry. Ingredients were beef, salt and pepper, apple cider vinegar, orange pepper, cilanto, green onions, gravy, bermuda onion, and soy sauce.

I forgot to take a photo of the lomo saltado, but it was tasty. In addition, we had our choice of some entrees. I had salmon (very good) served with quinoa which is grown and eaten often in Peru.

The restaurant of beautiful bright colors.

Mural on the way back to our hotel of a puna and other Inca symbols. Cuzco is the body of the puma and the Inca site of Sacsayhuaman is its head.