For a few members of our OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) group, our last night in Cusco was the end of the trip. Those people would return next day by air to Lima while the rest of us would continue on to southern Peru, to the area around Puno and Lake Titicaca. This leg of the trip was an optional five-day extension offered on most OAT excursions.

The following pictures were taken during our morning walking tour (which I wrote about in my most recent Peru 2008 post) and in the afternoon “on our own.”

A protest march approaches in the Plaza de Armas.We came across this protest march by workers in the administrative branch of education. One of our group members decided to join with them! Although some people warned her not to, she managed to find out more about their protest and the protesters were quite friendly.

Beautiful balconies on an apartment building in central Cusco.

These women are dressed in colorful traditional attire. Notice the beautiful embroidery and the tiny baby alpaca that one of the women is holding!We returned to our hotel (San Carlos) to rest prior to going out for dinner. This interesting modern light fixture hung down over the lobby (taken from outside our room).Because it was our last night together with our entire group of 16, we had reservations at a well-known excellent restaurant in Cusco, Pachacutec, where we were entertained by native dancers and Andean music. This brass and copper emblem adorned the wall of the restaurant, along with an artist’s rendition of images of Inca rulers.