Streets ahead of their time

I realise that the photos I´ve posted probably don´t do justice to the incredible city of Cusco. The above is a reasonably typical street scene, on one of Cusco´s wider streets (I´m serious). I´ve become so accustomed to the amazing highland backdrop, which can be seen in literally every direction, that I have to remind myself to appreciate it and, of course, to post some examples.

Streets such as these are the norm here, with road rules apparently few and, in any case, rarely observed. With no real public transport system, the taxis have the run of the place (about AUD$0.75 to anywhere in the city), and you quickly learn how to keep out of their way at the same time as stepping on and off the precariously narrow sidewalks to accomodate fellow pedestrians. Much of the city is laid out according to the original plan of the Incas who founded it. Walking by the mostly Spanish architecture, you will all of a sudden be brushing your shoulder along massive dry-stone (sans mortar of any kind) walls placed there by the incredible Incan stone workers. It says something that earthquakes in the 1650s and 1950s decimated the city... except for the Incan foundations many colonial buildings had been built upon.